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'ARCHITE 


NOVEMBER - 1933 


Modernism — Yesterday, Toda y, and Tomorrow 
REXFORD N EWCOMB 


THE HOME OF ALFRED HOPKINS, ARCHITECT, AT PRINCETON 


The Cleveland Museum of Art 


UBBELL & BENES, ARCHITECTS; OLMSTED BROTHERS, LAN 


DSCAPE ARCHITECTS 


BANK IN AMHERST, MASS. A POST OFFICE IN HEMPSTEAD, L. I. 


Portfolio of Gothic Niches 


WE DO OUR PART 


CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 


FIFTH AVENUE AT 48TH STREET. 


„NEW YORK . 13 BEDFORD SQ., LONDON 


FIFTY CENTS 4 COPY 


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tion. Brunswick bars are built of beautiful native and imported 
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NOVEMBER, 1933 


ARCHITECTURE 


ELLICOTT SQUARE + » By completely modernizing their elevators and including the 
Ru newest in elevator features, developed and applied exclusively by Westinghouse, the manage- 
ment reassures its long established position as the 


Finest business address in Buffalo.” 


TINGHOU 


SAFE-T-RAY ... Ellicott Square now protects its passengers from fast-moving 
power-operated doors with this famous ray, which will not permit the doors to close until the passengers and 
their clothing are completely away from the path of the closing doors, a decided advance in elevator afetv 
Every elevator "change over" presents its own problems, Consult Westinghouse engineers. Arrange for a 
survey to be made for your building management to determine the possible savings in maintenance. 
operation and space by modernizing the elevators 


A special study is made of each individual building 


Westinghouse Electric Elevator Company 3 L Е VA TO RS 


B THE BULLETIN -BOARD 2 


FEDERAL EMERGENCY 
ADMINISTRATION OF 
PUBLIC WORKS 

UP to September 29, the fede 

and non-federal housing proj 
ects approved by the Administration 
are as follows, the amount named 
representing the loan. 


Boston—Neptune Gardens, Inc.. #3, 
Brooklyn—Spence Estate Hous- 
ing Corporation 
Philadelphia—American Federa- 
tion of Full-Fashioned Hosiery 
Workers 
Cleveland, Ohio—Limited-divi 
dend corporation whieh will be 
organized under the auspices of 
the Mayor's Business Recovery 
Commission 
Euclid, Ohio—Euclid Housing 
Corporation, a non-profit cor- 
poration, which will be formed 
by a group of leading citizens 
headed by Mayor C. R. Ely 1 
Amited-dividend 
corporation, composed of a re- 
sponsible group of citizens, and 
sponsored by the Neighborhood 
Association. . 
Borough of Queen 
City—Slum cl ce to de- 
velop plot with six-story apart- 
ment houses, to be built by 
Hallets Cove Garden Homes, 
Inc., a limited-dividend corpo- 
ration e 2,965,000 
Bronx, New York—Four and six 
story apartments to be built by 
a limited-dividend corporation 
to be formed by responsible 
citizens of New York; proposed 
by Hillside Housing Corpora- 
tion.... А 5 esse  $,184,000 
Raleigh, N. C.— Three-story 
apartments 
State emplo: s 
and students of the State Uni- 
versity, to be built by a lim- 
ited-dividend corporation, or- 
ized by a group of Raleigh 


2,025,000 


845,000 


$00,000 


New York 


168, 


Indianapolis, Ind.—Slum clear- 
ance for Negro dwellings to be 
built by a limited-dividend cor- 
poration to be organized by the 
Indianapolis Community Plan 
Committee of the Chamber of 
Commerce. ........... . 4,460,000 

Philadelphia, Pa. — Hillcreek 
Homes Corporation, a limited- 
dividend corporation, for a low- 
cost housing project 


1,290,000 


Many of these loans are given 
tentative approval subject to con- 
tracts. 


REGISTRATION IN 
CONNECTICUT 


EPTEMBER 28 last was the 

final date set bv the Architec- 
tural Examining Board of Connec- 
ticut for the issuance of certificates 
of registration without examination. 
'The examining board as appointed 
by Governor W. L. Cross, consists 
of Dean Everett V , chair. 


ARCHITE 


‘TURE, published by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S So! 


man; Edward B. Caldwell, 1029 
Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, secre 
tary; W. F. Brooks of Hartford; 
George H. Gray of New Haven, and 
C. Frederick Townsend of New 
Haven. The Connecticut law pro- 
vides that registration of architects 
outside the State may be had, sub- 
ject to the examining board, by an 
architect registered in any other 
State in which the qualifications 
ribed at the time of such regis- 
tration or certification were equal 
to those prescribed in this State at 
the date of application. 


EARTHQUAK AND UNIT 
MASONRY CONSTRUCTION 


HE Portland Cement Associa- 

tion calls attention to a report 
by Raymond E. Davis, chairman, 
a consulting engineer connected with 
the Engineering Materials Labora- 
tory, University of Californ 
Berkeley, addressed to members 
of Committee C-12 on Mortars 
for Unit Masonry of the American 
Society for Testing Materials. The 
report deals with the effect of 
Southern California earthquakes 
upon buildings of unit masonry 
construction. It is in the form of a 
sixteen-page pamphlet, and its find- 
ings are too detailed to be abbre 
ated in these columns. In general, 
the committee emphasizes the fact 
that a unit masonry wall is no 
stronger than the mortar in its 
joints. Ways and means are sug- 
gested by which the mortar may 
be made of the proper materials and 
consistencies and applied in the best 
way, subject to the unavoidable 
human factors. 


DELANO AND ALDRICH 
TRAVELLING SCHOLARSHIP 


H WALBERT, of Paris, graduate 
* of the Ecole des Beaux Arts 
and professor of water-colors at the 
American School of Art at Fon- 
tainebleau, has been named the 
Delano and Aldrich Travelling 
Scholar by the Committee on Edu- 
cation of the American Institute of 
Architects, it is announced by 
Charles Butler, chairman of the 
committee. 

'The fellowship, established by 
William A. Delano and Chester 
H. Aldric ew York, enables 


, 507 Fifth Av 


New York, N. 


. November, 1933. Volum 


a foreign architect, sculptor, or 
painter, or a student in one or more 
of these arts, to spend a year of 
travel in the United States. Walbert 
is the fourth winner. He will study 
American architecture and building 
methods. 

During his course of studies at 
the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Walbert 
was awarded five medals and the 
Guadet Prize. He has received the 
French Government Diploma. In 
1928 and 1929 he served as archi- 
tect of an archeological expedition 
to Irak, and last year received 
the Blumenthal Prize, founded by 
George Blumenthal, of New York, 
to encourage French art and letters. 
This year he was awarded the 
Silver Medal of the Société des 
Architectes Diplomés par le Gouv- 
ernement. 


SCOVILL COMPETITION 
AW ARDS 


"THE Scovill Manufacturing Com- 

pany sponsored a competition 
in two cla calling for an essay 
on modernization. Class A dealt 
with an actual experience; Class B, 
with a hypothetical modernization 
problem. The winners have been 
announced as follows: Class A, 
Roi L. Morin of Seattle, Wash.; 
Class B, Bernard R. Klekamp of 
Chicago. 'The judges were Cass 
Gilbert, Jr., Rawson Haddon, Fran- 
eis Keally, Louis A. Walsh, and 
Russell Whitehead, who found many 
interesting contributions among the 
entr 


A WORD FROM AMERICAN 


ENG ERING COUNCIL 
HE Treasury Department will 
look with much disfavor on 


those architects or engineers who 
retain legal counsel in Washington 
to aid them in securing professional 
contracts from the department; in 
fact, it will be the disposition of the 
department to eliminate such archi- 
tects and engineers from considera- 
tion altogether. This announcement 
was recently made by Assistant 
Secretary of the Treasury Robert 
who has requested the American 
Institute of Architects and Ameri- 
can Engineering Council to make 
the attitude of his office widelv 
known. 

Earlv in the summer the Treasurv 
Department learned that certain 
Washington lawvers had been so- 
liciting engineers, architects; and 
others, interested in obtaining gov- 

(Continued on page 4) 


Pul ed monthly 


IL 
on the 28th of the month preceding date of issue. Entered as second-class matter, ‘March 30, 1900, at the Post-Office at New York, N. Y., under 
the Act of March 2, 1879. Yearly subscription rate to members of the architectural and allied professions, $3; to all others, $6. 


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In new buildings and in the modernization of older buildings, Youngstown Pipe, 
Youngstown Buckeye Conduit and Youngstown Steel Sheets assure an unsurpassed 
standard of permanence in plumbing, heating, electrical and sheet metal installation. 


THE YOUNGSTOWN SHEET AND TUBE COMPANY 
MANUFACTURERS OF CARBON AND ALLOY STEELS 
General Offices: - - Youngstown, Ohio 


THE BULLETIN-BOARD Continued 


ernment business, representing that 
to retain such counsel would en 
hance the opportunities of the en- 
gineers and architects to obtain de- 
sirable contracts. This activity has 
been particularly prevalent in West- 
ern States. 

The Treasury Department has 
not made the names of the lawyers 
who engaged in this practice public, 
feeling that probably they did not 
realize (1) that their proposal was 
in itself a reflection on certain gov- 
ernment officials; (2) that represen- 
tation of the nature lawyers would 
provide could not possibly have any 
bearing upon the selections made by 
the Treasury Department. 

The department desires to make 
its selections on the merits of each 
case alone. There is no disposition 
on the part of the department to 
prosecute any of the parties con- 
cerned, but it does want it emphat- 
ically understood that such a prac 
tice will be outlawed. 


TENNIS NET HEIGHT 


N the Series of Working Draw- 

ings bv Jack G. Stewart, Plate 
No. 38, appearing in the issue for 
August, 1933, presented tennis court 
details. In the drawing the tennis 
net height was given 3 
It should be noted that three feet is 
the proper height at the centre of 
the court, but to allow for the un- 
avoidable drop in height from the 
posts, the height at the posts should 
be three feet, six inches. 


HEATING AND 
VENTILATING EXPOSITION 


HE Third International Heat- 

ing and Ventilating Exposi- 
tion, it is announced, will be held 
during the first week of February, 
1934, February 5 to 9. There are 
many indications that air condi- 
tioning may become America's next 
great new industry, and the exposi- 
tion will aim to present this fact to 
the members of the many branch 
industries involved and the general 
public. 


HOUSING STUDY GUILD 


URING October the Housing 

Study Guild carried forward 
the first two studies in its pro- 
gramme. The first is a preliminary 
analysis of a 30-acre tract in a large 
eastern city to determine its avail- 
ability for industrial housing at low 
costs which would be acceptable 
under the programme of the PWA 


Housing Division. This study, 
which was undertaken at the joint 
request of the property owners and 
of the Housing Division, may not 
be publishable in its entirety, but 
the Guild will make available a re 
port on its conclusions. from the 
study, its method of approach to 
this typical problem, the types of 
information-sources consulted and 
their effectiveness, etc. 

As a parallel to the above the 
Guild is continuing the study of its 
first " General Problem” as listed in 
last month's issue—the establish- 
ment of standard forms for the re 
porting and analysis of data on 
housing projects, together with the 
formulation of a standard termi- 
nology. Before publication, this 
study will be submitted to archi- 
tects, housing bodies, and others in 
various sections of the country for 
criticism. In the meantime those 
who have made similar or related 
studies are urged to communicate 
with the Guild. 


A MATTER OF CREDIT 


N the issue for October, the Port- 

folio of Pew Ends included one 
which bore beneath it the caption, 
"Reproduction, fifteenth - century 
pew, Fiesole, Italy." As a matter of 
fact, the example shown, which 
happens to be a particularly inter- 
esting one in that it has an open 
back and integral kneeler, was de- 
signed by Oliver Reagan, architect, 
especially for the exhibition held by 
the Liturgical Arts Society at The 
Architectural League, New York, in 
May and June of this year. The ex- 
hibition was called, "he Small 
Church.” Mr. Reagan's design was 
executed by the American Car & 
Foundry Company's woodworking 
division. We regret that proper 
credit for this work was not given in 
the original publication 


JOHN L. MAURAN 
1866-1933 


JOHN LAWRENCE MAURAN, 
“ of St. Louis, internationally 
known architect and Fellow and 
Past President of the American In- 
stitute of Architects, died in the 
hospital at Peterboro, N. H., on 
September 23, of peritionitis which 
developed after an emergency opera- 
tion performed the week before. 
Mr. Mauran was at his summer 
home in Dublin when stricken. 

Mr. Mauran was born in Provi- 
dence, R. I., and studied architec- 
ture at the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology, with a year of travel 
and further study abroad. He en- 
tered the office of Shepley, Rutan 
& Coolidge, and became its St. Louis 
representative in 1893, and later its 
St. Louis partner. In 1900 he organ- 
ized the firm of Mauran, Russell & 
Garden (becoming in 1911 Mauran, 
Russell & Crowell). 

The firm designed a long list of 
important structures, among which 
may be mentioned the St. Louis 
Union Trust Company Building, 
the Butler Brothers buildings in 
St. Louis and Dallas, St. Louis 
Countrv Club, and the Skin and 
Cancer and Children's Hospitals in 
St. Louis. 

Mr. Mauran found time outside 
of his professional activities to 
shoulder an unusual burden of 
public work in civic activities. 


PERSON AL 


Joseph W. Hoover, architect, an- 
nounces the opening of his office for 
the practice of architecture at 605 
Starr Building, Pittsburgh, Pa., and 
requests that manufacturers’ cata- 
logues be sent to him. 


James Lloyd Berrall, architect, 
announces the opening of offices for 
the practice of architecture at 22 
South Park Street, Montclair, N. J. 


Cross & Cross, architects, have 
moved their offices to 515 Madison 
Avenue, New York City. 


Norman W. Shaw and John B. 
McCool announce the opening of 
offices for the practice of architec- 
ture at g Geary Street, San Fran- 
cisco, Calif. 


Frohman, Robb & Little, archi- 
tects, have moved their offices to 
250 Stuart Street, Boston, Mass. 


NovEMBER, 1033 ARCHITECTURE 


әз 


IN THE MODERN HOWE 


Large windows This unusual glass 
make a home cheer- : dressing table, with 
ful and attractive. — mirror,appearsinthe 
This is a view of the houseconstructed by 
living room in the the Common Brick 


Lumber Indus- Manufacturers 
tries house. QR Association. 
Glass, not only in windows, but in mirrors, panels, mirrored doors, table бесно ня: EE Gl ` biet 


" dows, like these, covers the wall 
tops, decorative screens and Picture Windows, is fast becoming the kev- are always effective. in the bedroom of 
Theyareinthegame the Florida Tro 
room of the Stran- іса! House —a 
Steel Good House- 
keeping house. tive use of mirrors. 


note of contemporary architectural desión. Nowhere is this illustrated 


more vividly than in the Home Planning Section at Chicago's World's 


Fair... and it is significant that, in these model houses, the flat glass LIBBEY-OWENS-FORD GLASS 
L COMPANY, TOLEDO, OHIO, 

is almost exclusively the produet of Libbev-Owens-Ford. That proof manufacturers of Highest Quality Flat 
e [| Drawn Window Glass, Polished Plate 
of preference endorses our assertion that a closed specification for Glass and Safety Glass; also distribu- 


tors of Figured and Wire Glass manufactured by 


L:O-F Quality Glass will insure your clients complete satisfaction. the Blue Ridge Glass Corp. of Kingsport, Tenn. 


LIBBEY.: OwENS: FORD 
QUALITY GLASS 


ARCHITECTURE NOVEMBER, 1033 


ALBERT KAHN 


Tvpical examples of ''Pipe Prescription'' 
Albert Kahn, Inc., Detroit, Architect... 


@ National Bank of Commerce, 
Detroit. All heating linesof Byers 
Genuine Wrought Iron Pipe. 


€ Byers Genuine Wrought Iron Pipe specified for cold 
water, hot water, drainage, vents, fire system and all heat- 
ing lines in Harper Hospital Addition, Detroit. 


@ Fisher Building, Detroit. All heating and cold water lines of Byers 
Genuine Wrought Iron Pipe. 


IPE selection is a matter of accu- as carried out by Albert Kahn, Inc., 


Detroit. 


rate engineering in offices of 
leading architects, such as Albert 
Kahn, Inc., of Detroit. The probable 
corrosive conditions of the piping 


Blanket specifications are wasteful 
and not sound engineering. Be sure 


you have analyzed conditions and 


9 Byers Genuine Wrought Iron specified for all plumb- 
ing and steam return lines in General Motors Truck 
Building, Pontiac, Michigan. 


services in each new project must have accurate service records in 


be analyzed and pipe materials your files to back your selections. 


selected which have proved them- Our Engineering Staff is at your 


PUT YOUR 
FAITH IN 
SERVICE 
RECORDS 


selves over long periods of time in older build- disposal in analyzing conditions. If you would 


ings subjected to the same conditions. Wrought like to review our files of comparative service 


iron, for instance, is specified in those corrosive records collected through the aid of architects 


services where it has proved most economical and engineers, ask a Byers Engineer or write 
over a long period of time. our Engineering Service Department. A. M. Byers 

Basing pipe selection on records of service and anal- Company, Established 1864. Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, 
ysis of conditions is what we call "Pipe Prescription.” Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, St.Louis, Houston, W 


Illustrated are examples of this sound engineering practice Los Angeles. 


BYERS же,» PRODUCTS 


PIPE > WELDING FITTINGS = RIVETS > SPECIAL BENDING PIPE = BAR IROR 
PLATES - SHEETS - CULVERTS - FORGING BILLETS - STRUCTURALS 


ay REDE THEN EVE. 


~ TOD 


ARCHITECTURE 


PAT. OFFICE 


THE PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECTURAL MONTHLY 


VOL. LXVIII, NO. 5 NOVEMBER, 1933 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
Frontispiece: Old Houses, Spain 
From the drawing in pen-and-ink and wash by Carl 


W. Heilborn 


Modernism— Yesterday, Today, and 
Tomorrow MA ta x e 25g 
Rexford Newcomb emphasizes the irs that the dis- 
covery of new materials and new methods of con- 
struction always has and always will induce changes 


in architectural style 


л 


First National Bank, Amherst, Mass. 259 
In which Lester Kintzing, architect, supplies a com- 
munity need while holding to the community's tra- 
ditions 


The Cleveland Museum of Art . . 261 


Indicating that Cleveland has not been satisfied with 
having a mere building to shelter her art treasures, 
but, through Hubbell & Benes and Olmsted Broth- 
ers, has developed an art centre with its proper setting 


The Architectural Observer . . . 269 


Charles Adams Platt . . . . . 271 


An appreciation by Royal Cortissoz 


Book Reviews . . . . . . . 272 


House of Alfred Hopkins, NS 
Princeton, N. J. 


Mr. Hopkins has sought , for and obtained a feeling 
of masonry structure by carrying it indoors 


Rake, Riser, and Tread: I s o d 483 
Jamieson Parker, an architect, offers as a substitute 
for various rules of thumb, a scientific method of de- 
termining stair proportions. 


Better Practice . . soa p 48$ 


Bringing up to date the суне $ specifications and 
details, by W. F. Bartels 


Spanish Architecture of the Southwest 289 


Some details of old and new work as developed from 
Spanish and Mexican prototypes 


The Editor's Diary e e а x o8 


DES : Post Office, Hempstead, L. I. . 295 


Tooker & $ Marsh take a carefully studied step away 
from Gs established Federal traditions 


Contacts: The Contribution of Engi- 
neering to Progress . . . . . 299 
By Edward 7. Mehren 


AncHiTECTURE's Portfolio of Gothic 


Niches А s. SE 
A collection of. fifty four photographs 


WHEN CHANGING ADDRESSES, SUBSCRIBERS MUST GIVE FOUR WEEKS" 


6; add $1 for Canadian рс 
ising rates upon request. Entered 
1900, at the Post-Office at New York, N. Y., 


Copyright, 1933, by CHARLES SCRIBNER's Sons. 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 


ADVANCE NOTICE AND BOTH THEIR OLD AND NEW ADDRESSES 


) any address in the United 
age and $2 for foreign post- 
second-class matter, March 30, 
under the Act of March 2, 1879. 


All rights reserved 


PUBLISHERS 


CHARLES SCRIBNER, President 
EDWARD T. S. LORD, WHITNEY DARROW, MAXWELL E. PERKINS, Vice-Presidents 


GEORGE R. D. SCHIEFFELIN, Treasurer 


NEW YORK: 


JOHN HALL WHEELOCK, Secretary 


597 FIFTH AVENUE ar 48TH STREET 


u 
P SPECTIY 
О INTERIOR 


THIS IS THE SIXTH of a widely 


series of drawings by Gerald 


EUR 
F 


seerlings. He says: 


"The upper drawing was sketched 
frechand at the Chicago Fair in the 
Stran Steel — Good Housekeeping 
house, entirely with a 5B Micro- 
c Van Dyke Pencil, on white 
Bristol board, exactly this size. The 


tor 


lower drawing was made later, wi 
and perspective trued up a bit. 
hing" 
in a few flat tones, and yours will 


plete the latter by “wa 


e. Use a 5B or 
il right on this 
ced how quickly 


be better than 1 


rotomic I 


page, and be con 


and satisfactorily you can render 
an interior. 


“As a rule the architectural rendi- 
tion of an interior view suffers from 
the following faults: (1) walls look 
nt instead of solid; (2) the 
is taken too high, creating 
the impres 


1 that one may fall 
forward into the drawing; (3) rugs 
do not lie flat on the floor but tilt 
into strange contortions, particu- 
larly if they are oval or have a fig- 
ured pattern; (4) the fu 


are not well drawn. Try a wide, gray 


shings 


line (made by ruling two thin lines), 


and the result will be surprisingly 


decorative and convincing." 
FREE SAMPL 
of the Microtomic Van Dyke Pencil 
are yours for the asking. Write to 


S of any two degrees 


the Eberhard Faber Pencil Dept. 
AR 11-33, 37 Greenpoint Ave, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
= = 
HOLD MIRROR 
AT RIGHT ANGLES VIEW FROM 


TO DRAWING 


(MANTEL 
SHOWN 
NARROW) 


E 
S 


APT LTCATTON 


NOVEMBER, 1933 


“In designing such a motif as 


a mantel, an entrance, and 


even an entire exterior, it often 


saves considerable time to use 
t 
of drawing out a number of 


Hold 


without a 


a mirror as shown left, ad 


studies for comparison. 
the mirror (one 
frame) at right angles along 


the center line of the design, 


USE A MIRROR AND SAVE TIME 


as shown in the section to the 
left. moving the 
mirror left and right, vou are 
enabled to observe the effect of 
increasing or sing the 
width. The elevations at the 


Then, by 


decre 


left show by the com son of 


the arrow how the mantel can 


be studied both wide and 
narrow." —Gerald K. Geerlings 


MICROTOMIC 
VAN DYKE PENCIL 


EBERHARD FABER 


Made by the New Eberhard Faber Chemical Process, in 18 
Consistently Accurate Degrees—7B Softest to 9H Hardest. 


UOHI 7 Ap 1483 Ką usum pup yur-puv-uod из Surapp ayı uta < IMMIDILIHOM > 


NIFdS ‘SASQOH ато 


ee Le) 


ARGHITECTURE 


+ VOLUME LXVIII 


NOVEMBER 1933 


NUMBER 5 + 


Modernism 


Yesterday, Todav, and Tomorrow 
By Rexford Newcomb 


95360 HAT is modern architecture? We hear 
WË our friends talking about “modern” 
ya architecture and indeed ''contempo- 
SHAS rary” architecture as though it were 
something new, as though the world had never 
before been face to face with the problem of in- 
terpreting into architecture a changed attitude 
toward life, or with the necessity of expressing 
that architecture in terms of new materials. 
To an extent, of course, the present is a unique 
moment in the experience of man upon this 
planet but, while it is true that no moment or 
event ever exactly repeats itself, the fact re- 
mains that, as humanity lives out its cycles of 
existence in this world, circumstances remark- 
ably similar to circumstances of bygone days do 
recur. It is this very recurrence in the on- 
going pattern of human life that makes history 
valuable as a guide for the present and prece- 
dent worth considering. 

If one takes an historic view of life he will 
come to the conclusion that “modernism” has 
always been with us and that so long as man 
works at those processes which result in civili- 
zation, will always be with us. There have al- 
ways been innovators, monkeys who insisted 
upon walking farther out on the limb than any 
monkey had ever dared walk before. This very 
tendency has made for all that change in the 
condition of man and the environment that he 
has created for himself which we call civiliza- 
tion. But there is also in man a peculiar 
imitative streak that serves as a safety-valve to 
too much innovation and tends to perpetuate 
patterns of life that have already been tested 
and tried. Those who delight in walking out on 
limbs that have never before been walked upon 
we call “progressives,” or today in the architec- 
tural field “modernists,” and those who are 
content to do things upon a pattern similar to 
that of past days we call conservatives." This 
line of cleavage runs all through life and it is 


not surprising that architects find themselves 
today divided into two camps. 

I think, however, that in the лола! indi- 
vidual there is an interesting balancing of these 
two tendencies, resulting in a condition which, 
while it slows up what the ultra-progressive 
would call “progress,” acts as a serviceable de- 
terrent in the majority of the considerations of 
life. In the scheme of human economy we need 
the outer fringe of the ultra-progressives but 
we need also the more quiescent body of bal- 
anced individuals who keep the race from ruin- 
ing itself. The historian is constantly cognizant 
of the fact that while events change, humans do 
in various times and places behave consistently 
like humans. 

I wish we might have the time to make a side 
excursion into history to discover how con- 
sistently prevalent in human life and its mani- 
festations has been that spirit which we today 
call modernism. We should meet such worthy 
architectural innovators as old Imhotep of 
Egypt, the designers of ancient Assyria, Persia, 
Greece, and Rome. We should come to know 
Allan of Walsingham, William of Sens, Brunel- 
leschi, Leonardo da Vinci, and a host too nu- 
merous to mention. We have had architectural 
innovators since the beginning of the art and 
it is largely to their daring that most of the 
change (witness I do not say progress) is to be 
attributed. There were innovators in Greece 
who transformed the archaic wooden and sun- 
dried brick temples of Hellas into shrines of 
polychromed white Pentelic marble; innovators 
in Rome who, through the invention of an arch, 
raised vaults and domes of masonry above some 
of the most magnificent enclosed spaces that 
the world has ever seen, and turned the cou rses 
of rivers into the fountains and basins of the 
great metropolitan bathing establishments; in- 
novators in France who dared give us the para- 
dox of roofs of stone above walls of glass; 


A conservative expression in concrete. The ornament was all cast integrally with the 
construction. Norton Memorial Hall, Chautauqua, N. Y. Otis F. Johnson, architect 


Brunelleschi, that early innovator of the Italian 
Renaissance, who, through the introduction of a 
material strong in tension to take up the lateral 
thrust always present in arched structures, was 
able to set an unbuttressed dome atop the Cathe- 
dral of Florence. And so it has gone down to 
our day, by an empirical process; the innova- 
tors little by little have conquered their environ- 
ment and ushered in forms and manners that 
their more conservative neighbors thought 
ridiculous and unlovely. 


„m 


But what factors occasion changes in architec- 
tural expression? While changed conditions in 
the social, economic, political, and religious or- 
ders of life make for a gradual change in art 
expression, the phenomenal changes in archi- 
tecture come about through: 

т. The introduction of new materials. 

2. Changes in the handling of an o/d ma- 

terial. l 

. A changed system of construction made 
possible by an introduction. of new 
materials. 


co 


4. New inventions (like electricity and the 
elevator) which markedly affect con- 
struction processes and architectural 
form. 

Perhaps without exception all the great 
styles of the past have been made possible by, 
or were based upon, either a new palette of ma- 
terials or a new system of construction. 

[n many respects the task that confronts us 
today, the problem of using a whole new palette 
of materials and at least two new systems of 
construction (steel and concrete), is not unlike 
the artistic task which the Gothic architects of 
lle de France faced at the middle of the twelfth 
century. Ever since the downfall of the Roman 
Empire in the west, they had striven ag ain to 
be able to erect over the altars of their religion 
an imperishable vault of stone, like that which 
the Roman architects so well knew how to con- 
struct during the Imperial Period. By 1145 they 
had succeeded in reaching a logical and crafts- 
manlike solution of the structural phases of the 
Gothic svstem but the vaults were heavy and 
graceless, the buttresses clumsy and brutal, and 
the piers and shafts anything but beautifül. The 
mechanical solution was at hand, the structural 


« ARCHITECTURE > 


254 


A recent construction in monolithic concrete with no re 


'erence to past styles, and entirely de- 


pendent upon the limitations and possibilities of its material for any architectural charm it 


may possess. 


lechnique was perfected, but an adequate and 
logical esthetic expression thereof still remained 
to be found. 

The story of the rch for the beautiful in 
Gothic architecture is a fascinating one but one 
that is familiar to the architectural profession. 
We need not repeat it. It was, however, just as 
real a problem and one quite as elusive as had 
been the conquering of the constructive phases 
of the style. It took a hundred years to solve it, 
and that in the face of the fact that for centuries 
man had been building in stone and had by this 
time presumably mastered his material. 

Today, of course, we face a variety of mate- 
rials and an infinity of constructive systems the 
like of which no previous period ever encoun- 
tered. Added to this is a constantly changing 
array of mechanical inventions that affect con- 
struction practice and modify architectural 
form. Thus an adequate esthetic for so fluid 
and changeful a body of architectonic materials 
is not as yet possible, and every architectural 
essay must in such a fux period be considered 
only in the light of a “progress report " in an 
evolution toward an adequate artistic Ga 


Edmond Meanev Hotel, Seattle, Wash. 


Robert C. Reamer, architect 


tation of these new materials and new systems. 
Added to these material considerations are 
the less tangible social, economic, and other 
human processes that are at work and about 
which the average architect knows very little 
and apparently cares le Of course it is al- 
ways difficult to get the pulse in so fluida period, 
but if I have any guess as to the trend that fore- 
most architectural thought i in this day is taking 
I would say that it is tending toward a new 
horizon that will have to do more and more 
with the social and human factors and less and 
less with questions of abstract design; more and 
more with the problems of catching. and express- 
ing the tenor of modern life and thought, and 
less and less with archeological argument and 
stylistic considerations. Of course the ability to 
express life in terms of architecture depends 
upon a mastery of the means to that expression. 
Our problem therefore resolves itself into two 
"der considerations: 
That of trying to find out what this rap 
idly changing modern life is all about. 
How best we may interpret that life in 
terms of the available materials. 


+ ARCHITECTURE + 


255 


These remarks mav give vou a clue to the 
criteria by which I believe we should judge 
modern architecture, and in fact I see no rea- 
son why we should not use such measuring sticks 
in the evaluation of all architecture, ancient or 
modern. 

In my estimation an architecture that does 
not completely minister to life (physically and 
spiritually) is not worthy of the name. An 
architecture that ministers to life is a functional 
architecture; an architecture that attempts to 
express in plan and mass the activities of life 
that take place within its walls and beneath its 
roof; an architecture that cares little for 
archeological precedent and stylistic form but 
seeks to fashion whatever beauty it may ex- 
press within the limits permitted by its function 
and the materials of which it is built; an archi- 
tecture that is sincere, plays fair with the life 
which it shelters, and plays fair with the sub- 
stance of its creation; an architecture which 
meets its problems in a simple, direct, and 
craftsmanlike manner and does not seek to 
imitate so-called modern forms from other lands 
or strive for an empty and stilted originality; 
an architecture that plays fair with precedent, 
retains that which is current and valuable, and 
discards that which is outworn and meaningless; 
an architecture which is not so much concerned 
with being “modern” as it is with being serv- 
iceable, honest, and true. Are these not fair 
criteria by which to measure the architecture of 


a new day? 
A 
Vë 


I presume that I should say something about 
the materials of modern architecture. Perhaps 
the architectural substances that have most 
saliently influenced modern design are the 
metals—particularly steel—glass, and concrete. 
This problem of seeking an architectural ex- 
pression in these materials is not so new as 
some of us assume. It goes back about one 
hundred years, and dates from the early at- 
tempts of Henri Labrouste and his confrċres to 
give iron a place in the esthetic of architecture. 
His success in the Library Sainte Geneviéve and 
the Bibliothéque National in Paris was consider- 
able. The début of glass in any large way prac- 
tically dates from the construction by Sir 
Joseph Paxton of the famed Crystal Palace, 
erected for the London Exposition of 1851. 

During the 'sixties great progress was made 
in the technical development of cast- and 
wrought-iron building shapes, which in turn 
made for their artistic employment, but metal 


did not much influence building construction 
until the perfection of manufacturing processes 
made possible the production of steel that was 
cheap enough to be used as building material. 
This significant event took place in 1884, and 
architects of the city of Chicago made sub- 
stantial contributions in the structural applica- 
tion of that material to architectural problems. 

This all resulted in the metallic frame em- 
bodying a new and unique system of construc- 
tion and a new structural logic. This has been 
with us for some years, but we have not as yet 
completely solved the esthetic implications that 
came in the wake of this structural develop- 
ment. We are making progress, but one of the 
present-day problems of the architectural de- 
signer consists in finding a logical and defend- 
able esthetic for the steel frame. 

Concrete is another material that offers a 
unique challenge to the creative architect of to- 
day. Portland cement has been upon a com- 
mercial production basis since about 1890. 
During the past thirty years engineers and in- 
ventors have explored the physical and chemical 
problems connected with it and have provided 
us with the mathematical equipment necessary 
to intelligent structural design and a technique 
for handling this valuable medium for architec- 
tural expression. As yet, however, we as archi- 
tects have done little toward the solution of the 
esthetics of the material or the systems of con- 
struction to which it has given rise. For the 
most part we have been content to use concrete 
as the bony substance of our buildings, covering 
it with various materials and refusing even to 
mention it upon the face of the structure. Now 
this is perhaps not to be wondered at. The 
artistic employment of any new structural ma- 
terial invariably lags behind the perfection of 
the mechanical technique connected therewith. 
This is inherent in the very nature of such 
problems. 

There has been a good deal of mixed think- 
ing about the nature of concrete. For a long 
time it was thought of as “fluid stone” and of- 
ten treated as stone even to the extreme of 
using it to make rock-faced concrete blocks. 
Concrete is a plastic, but is not a plastic like 
clay or wax, to be modelled into place. Its 
plasticity consists in its ability to be cast into 
practically any shape necessary to or encoun- 
tered in the building art. In my estimation here 
lies its greatest artistic value. 

Willing to take almost any shape, it, unlike 
many other materials, is impressionable when 
young but stubborn and difficult to change 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


mo 


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= 
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m. 


TE 


= db 42 ab adb л> 
eg ep ч» eg 
LS 


E 
r 
i 


A sensible and beautiful rendering of the functional steel members. Concourse of 
Union Station, Chicago, Ill. Graham, Anderson, Probst €E White, architects 


< ARCHITECTURE + 


when once set in its way. 
crystalline quality not unlike stone, and there- 


When set up it has a 
fore should not be cast as one would cast lead, 
iron, or other such plastics. Some one has said 
that "Concrete is stone, yet nof stone." In 
essence it is a plastic that petrifies— becomes 
stone. This eventual granular character, and 
the necessity of “pulling” the moulds or forms 
from its surface, must always be kept in mind 
during its design. 

Thus we might go through the whole gamut 
of that infinite variety of architectural staff in 
which we are trying to express ourselves. Most 
of us have little first-hand knowledge about 
these materials we are expected to use. Thus 
today we see materials perfectly good and noble 
in themselves imitatively tortured into some- 
thing which they are z70/, simply because of our 
inability to sense their possibilities and limita- 
tions—the physical and es- 
thetic natures of them. Thus 
excellent rubber floor cover- 
ings masquerade as marble, 
good plaster palms itself off as 
stone, clever pressed-steel 
doors, desks, and cabinets 
claim to be mahogany, pressed 
enamelled steel sheets simu- 
late ceramic tiling, and con- 
crete attempts to finesse itself 
as cast stone with mouldings, 
undercutting, and the other 
earmarks of stone that has 
been worked with the chisel. 

At a recent convention of 
material men I advocated the 
establishment of “esthetic lab- 
oratories,” in which archi- 
tects and other designersmight 
have the opportunity to get 
first-hand experience with ma- 
terials. The designer is today 
too far removed from the 
craftsman. Further, it seems 
to me that if it is essential to 
have laboratories for the study 
of the strengths and mechanics 
of materials, it is just as essen- 
tial to have laboratories or 
studios for the study of the 


Monolithic concrete with orna- 
ment cast integrally by the use 
of waste moulds. Hoffman 
Candy Company Building, 
Los Angeles, Calif. Charles 
Plumber, architect 


esthetics of materials. One fact is plain. We 
shall never succeed in forming a modern archi- 
tecture until we master the esthetic of the ma- 
terials in which we work. 

Esthetic solutions are slow-going processes, 
and we may not expect to solve immediately all 
the problems connected with our art, but we 
are expected to bring to the practical and 
s before us the same creative in- 
genuity which has characterized forward-looking 
and rational architects down through the ages. 
If we do this, in time a new architecture, as as- 
suredly predicated upon the living considera- 
tions of our day as the great past styles were 
predicated upon the material and spiritual back- 
grounds of their time, will come into being. We 
do not need the materials or the forms of the 
past but we do need the creative daring and соц 
rageous attack of the architects of other davs 


First National Bank, 
Amherst, Mass. 


LESTER KINTZING, AncurrECT 


The walls are of red brick 
with Bedford limestone pi- 
lasters and cornices, granite 
base course, and graduated 
late roof; windows are of 
od, painted to match the 
stone. The building was 
erected, furnished, and deco- 
rated by Hoggson Brothers 


As befitting a community of 
New England in which the 
architecture is rather consist- 
ently of a single type, the 
building is an individual one 


following Colonial traditions, 


but, bowing to modern re- 
quirements, strictly fireproof 
throughout 


Above, the architect s preliminary perspective of the main banking room. Below, the public 
space of the main banking room as executed. The wall surfaces, pilasters, and vaulted ceiling 
are painted an old ivory, the ceiling being of a lighter shade than the walls. The floor ts of Ten- 
nessee marble, the counter screen being of marble with a maple top screen and bronze wickets 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 
260 


Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio 


HUBBELL $ BENES, ARCHITECTS; OLMSTED BROTHERS, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 


Pholographs by The Cleveland Museum of Art 


261 


Plan of 
2 first 
ES floor 


The 
Fountain 
of Waters; 
Chester. 4 4. 
Beach, 
sculptar 


Plan of 
ground 


floor 


White Georgia marble has been used throughout for the exterior walls, 

recalling the best materials of Classic Greek work, and proven as en- 

during under the rigorous climate of Cleveland. As will be seen in the 

plans on the opposite page, the scheme of providing two main en- 

trances, one from the driveway on the ground floor, and the other by the 

steps from the garden on the first-floor level, is of great aid in handling 
crowds 


Sii 


lor o] 


A detail of the Pos ged 

fountain in the ; 5 к: а е e ; M. mo ar i s 

Garden Court rancea he 
ground level 


A view across one 
end of the mu- 
seum 


264 


Looking from the Garden Court into the rotunda and bevond to the 
Armour Court 


« ARCHITECTURE $ 


24 
265 


The Garden Court, the walls of 
which are of common brick, the 
columns being of granite brought 
from Italy 


A detail of the Garden Court as seen 
from the loggia end—the end op- 
posite the rotunda 
< ARCHITECTURE $ 


266 


The Armour Court, the walls of 
which are finished in Cleveland 
sandstone 


A detail of the Armour Court, look- 
ing through the entrance from the 
rotunda 


« ARCHITECTURE »> 


267 


TRIP 


The Library, which is on the ground-floor level, ad- 
joining the lecture room 


Below, a classroom—the one located on a corner of 
the ground-floor level 


H ERE is a clever idea as worked 

out in a restaurant in Frank- 
fort-on-Main—the Palmengarten, of 
which Els r, May & Hebebrand 
were the architects. The long south 
wall is entirely given over to a con- 


tinuous plant window. This, due to 
its projections, forms pleasant in- 
terior niches, each of which is sur 
rounded on three sides by glass and 
growing plants. "Throughout most 
of the day the room is flooded by 
sunshine with pleasant variations of 


light and color. 


HE problem of controlling light 

satisfactorily as it comes 
through large windows is one that 
has seldom been solved to the de- 
signer's complete satisfaction. The 
illustration shown a model office in 
an exhibit, “Interiors of Tomor- 
row," arranged by McMillen, Inc., 
interior decorators. Instead of fabric 


The Architectural Observer 


curtains of any type, which seemed 
rather difficult to reconcile with a 
functional office interior, the dec- 
orators used vertical vanes of pol- 
ished aluminum. Cords control 
these, both at top and bottom, so 
that the window may be entirely 
closed or only partly so. In addi- 
tion, it is possible to deflect the 
vanes at any angle so as to reflect 
light into the room instead of allow- 
ing it to come through directly in too 


great volume. 


POOL in the Century of Prog- 

ress Exposition, appearing in the 
garden of the Communication Cen- 
tre, shows a new development in the 
technic of decorative terra-cotta. 
Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker, archi- 
tects; Hildreth Meiére, painter; and 
the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company’s 


technicians collaborated in working 
out a method of transferring designs 
in ceramic colors by which effects 
similar to mural painting can be 
easily and economically obtained. 
Modeled reliefs, heretofore neces- 
sary to enable the polychromist to 
separate his color effects, are no 
longer necessary, nor is it essential 
in the interests of economy to use 
duplication of design. 

The silhouetted figures, symboliz- 
ing the spirit of electrical communi- 
cation, are in a rich deep blue glaze 
against the background of an Ori- 
ental green; the latitudinal and 
longitudinal lines of the globe are in 
ivory white, only one-eighth inch 
in width. The pool is almost twenty- 
two feet in diameter, and this pic- 
torial composition is under eighteen 
inches of water. 


269 


OLKART & TRUDINGER, 
architects of Stuttgart, found an 
interesting way of keeping their roof 
lines lower than the second-story 
ceiling without making those who 
use these upper rooms uncomfort- 


SECTION 


ably aware of the fact that the outer 
portion of the ceiling height had 
been cut down. The effect of the 
deep reveal in the windows, and the 
practical consideration of cupboard 
space gained, are details worthy of 


emulation. 


ARIOUS writers on interior dec- 

oration have called attention to 
the difficulties imposed upon the de- 
signer by the fact that daylight il- 
lumination provides light from the 
windows, while night illumination 
customarily utilizes an entirely dif- 
ferent set of sources. In the General 
Electric Lighting Institute at Har- 
rison, N. J., an attempt was made to 
overcome this difficulty by locating 


"e? 


the artificial light as a frame around 
the window openings. This par- 
ticular example was a part of a tem- 
porarv installation designed bv the 
engineering staff of the General 
Electric Companv, and details for a 
permanent feature of this kind have 
not been fully developed. It would 
seem easy enough, however, to de- 
vise a shallow metal box in place of 
the trim, painting this with flat 
white inside, and covering the open 
face with the proper kind of trans- 
lucent glass. Here the box was seven 
inches wide by eight inches deep, 
with the lighting of fifteen-watt 
lamps on six-inch centres. Relamp- 
ing is accomplished bv moving the 
strip at the side of the glass. The 
glass here is flashed crystal and opal 
separated and held in place bv nar- 
row metal binding strips. 


+ 


HERE are not many examples 
of true sgraffito work in this 
countrv, but here is one example 


which W. R. Yelland has developed 


for the exterior of a public school in 
Oakland, Calif. 


'The running floral design is in 


179 
миў 
* 
S 


ee 8. 


dull blue, rose, and brownish red. 
When the building was about readv 
for its sgraffito work funds were 
running low. Rather than give up 
the scheme, the architect selected 
the best of the plasterers, and went 
at it with him. The plasterer per- 
formed the actual work, while Mr. 
Yelland outlined the design on the 
wet plaster, working freehand as 
the work progressed. The base is of 
hollow tile; over a base coat of stucco 
the various colors were applied in 
thin smooth layers, and cut through 
to the color desired. 

On the pediment end a thin dash 
of stucco covers the wall of hollow 
tile with the additional colored 
plasters laid over this for the sgraf- 


fito work. 


HERE is no lack of ingenuity 

and inventiveness on the part of 
America's restaurateurs to provide 
unusual surroundings for their 
guests. In contrast, however, with 
the too frequent attempts to be 
startling and bizarre is the course 
followed by Schrafft's in one of its 
Fifth-Avenue stores in New York. 
An upper floor of the building has 
been remodelled—as nearly as struc- 
tural conditions permitted—as an 
exact reproduction of the Alexan- 
dria Room in the American Wing at 
the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
The theme has been carried out even 


< ARCHITECTURE > 


270 


to the details of furniture, silver, and 
china. The work was done under the 
direction of Charles E. Birge, archi- 


tect. 
+ 


N altering an old store building at 
Wuppertal, Hans Becher, archi- 
tect, divided his high ground-floor 
space to add a mezzanine. The 
masonrv wall supports were re- 
moved, and steel substituted. En- 


PLAN OF 
MEZZAWINE 


laic сл 


anine, the continu- 


closing the mezz 
ous, cantilevered, and projecting 
glass band serves to light the new 
mezzanine exhibition space, also the 
signs by means of night illumination 
inside. Incidentally, being ac- 
cented horizontally, this band dis- 
tracts the eye from the axial dis- 
crepancy between the openings on 
the first and second stories. 


Charles Adams Platt 


1861-1933 


AN APPRECIATION BX ROVAL CORTISSOZ 


TS spend a long life in the crea- 

tion of works of beauty, to care 
unswervingly for the things of the 
spirit and the mind, to wake the love 
of innumerable friends through the 
promptings of a generous heart—to 
do all this is surely to fulfill a high 
destiny. Such was the achievement 
of Charles A, Platt. He was an art- 
ist in the very core of his being. 
Upon his personality and upon his 
work there was ever a gracious ac- 
cent, as of one to whom a lofty 
standard came, in the old saying, as 
natural as breathing. He was a tra- 
ditionalist, turning to the lessons of 
the past with unhesitating confi- 
dence. But never was there an art- 
ist who more decisively proved that 
tradition may energize progress and 
lead to essentially modern accom- 
plishment. His superb Hanna Build- 
ing, in Cleveland, is based in its 
broad lines upon a Renaissance 
palazzo but it is accurately adjusted 
to the uses of commerce, and the 
adjacent Hanna Theatre is one of 
the structures in this country in 
which the practical problems in- 
volved in a building of the kind are 
perfectly solved. 

That was like Platt. He designed 
from within outward. He looked 
first to his plan and then made the 
façade an expression of its purpose. 
He knew all about “functionalism” 
long before the modernists began to 
use the term. When he designed the 
beautiful Freer Museum, in Wash- 
ington, he made it not only a monu- 
mental work externally but gave it a 
fairly unique status in matters of 
lighting, the arrangement of rooms, 
corridors and so on. He leaves be- 
hind him the drawings for the vast 
National Gallery, projected likewise 
for Washington. Their realization 
in stone will give to the United 
States a fabric devised only after 
exhaustive study of the principal 
museums of the world and a sifting 
of the concrete issues that belong to 
the installation of works of art. 
Platt was a constructive architect, 
if ever there was one, for whom a 
public building or a private house 
had to have organic life. 


Charles A. Platt died September 12 
at his summer home in Cornish, Vt., 
after an illness of six weeks. Born Oc- 
tober 16, 1861, his early training led 
to the study of painting and etching. 
His landscapes were in the Paris 
Salons of 1885 and 1886 and various 
important medals and awards came to 
him. Returning to America in 1887, 
after studying at Julian's under Bou- 
langer and Lefebvre, Mr. Platt became 
interested in landscape architecture 
through his brother, trained at Har- 
vard. Together they went abroad to see 
and study the great gardens. One re- 
sult was Charles Platt s book, “Italian 
Gardens," published in 1894. Through 
his landscape work he gradually came 
to focus most of his efforts upon archi- 
tecture. Though many monumental 
works have come from his hands—the 
Freer Art Gallery, University of Il- 
linois buildings, Astor Court apart- 
ments, and many others—he will be 
remembered best by his country houses. 
He designed welloverahundred of these, 
and each bears that indefinable some- 
thing, closely knit with restraint and 
suave grace, that was Charles A. Platt. 

The words of appreciation by Royal 
Cortissoz appeared as an unsigned 
editorial in “The New York Herald 
Tribune,” September 15.—EDıror. 


271 


It is as an architect that he is 
most widelv known, but to look back 
over his fruitful career is to see upon 
how manv adventures his artistic 
passion launched him. He was one 
of the founders of the American 
school of etching, producing manv 
plates in his earlier vears, plates 
marked by a firm, fluent line and by 
excellent composition. Only last 
winter an exhibition at the Century 
Club, summarizing the work as a 
landscape painter that coincided 
with and followed upon his work as 
an etcher, demonstrated again his 
technical ability, his sensitiveness to 
nature and to beauty, and his orig- 
inal charm. His book on the en- 
chantment of old Italian gardens 
was the first on the subject to ap- 
pear in this country, and on turning 
from the brush and needle he figured 
as a consummate master of land- 
scape architecture. Platt, in a word, 
could do anything that an artist 
could do. The Lowell fountain back 
of the New York Public Library, for 
example, is a testimony in its dignity 
and grace to the ease with which he 
could deviate from the ordinary path 
of the architect and develop a sculp- 
tor's aptitude. 

He has left a noble mark upon 
American art, one significant of 
taste, of refinement, of pure beauty. 
He had creative power and used it 
with remarkably balanced judg- 
ment. Of his traits as a man those 
who knew him will cherish grateful 
memories. There is an old designa- 
tion that comes to mind from out of 
some byway of Stuart literature, 
“Carluccio Dearest.” It belongs to 
Charles Platt. He will be remem- 
bered through his works. He will be 
remembered for the endearing man- 
ner in which he served as president 
of the Century Club. He will be re- 
membered for his unselfish labors as 
president of the American Academy 
in Rome, labors directed with in- 
tense solicitude to the allying of 
young talent with an_ inspiring 
ideal. He will be remembered also 
as “‘Carluccio Dearest"—kind, 
gentle, good, a man to tie to and to 
love. 


BOOK REVIEWS 


FRAZIER 


OF STONE. By FORMAN 
STERS. 163 pages, 814 by 11 inches. Photo- 

graphs from drawings and photographs. West- 
port, Conn.: 1933: Frazier Forman Peters, Inc. 
$3.50. 

The author, who is his own publisher for this 
book, has been building houses in Connecticut for 
some years. He believes in stone walls, and takes 
considerable space in his book to explain the differ- 
ence between the traditional stone wall, the veneered 
stone wall, and the Flagg stone wall. Starting with 
Mr. Ernest Flagg’s system, Mr. Peters has developed 
certain modifications of his own along the lines of 
economy of erection. 


ALL THE WAYS OF BUILDING. By L. Lam- 
PREY. 304 pages, 7 by 914 inches. Illustrations 
from drawings. New York: 1933: The Macmillan 
Co. $3.50. 

Here is a book written for children—the story of 
man as a builder throughout the ages. It is intended 
for the child of twelve years or over, but considering 
the present knowledge of architecture on the part of 
laymen generally, we would suggest that it would be 
an excellent book for one to persuade the less in- 
formed layman, or his wife, to read aloud to the 
children. 


THE CARILLON. By Frank PERCIVAL PRICE. 
Preface by HERBERT Austin Fricker, 228 
pages, 37 plates, 614 by 934 inches. Illustrations 
from drawings and photographs. Printed in 
Great Britain. New York: 1933: Oxford Univer- 
sity Press. $7.50. 

The progressive march of the carillon has been 
one of the interesting elements in ecclesiastical, 
educational, and monumental architecture in this 
countrv. The author, who is carillonneur for the 
Dominion Government at the Houses of Parliament, 
Ottawa, Canada, and who formerlv was carillonneur 
at the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon 
in New Xork, has filled with this book a real want in 
the literature of music and of architecture. The 
work is for the student carillonneur and for organi- 
zations contemplating the installation of the carillon, 
and is full of little-known facts. 


STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR 
METALS AND METAL PRODUCTS. Pre- 
pared by George A. WARDLAW, under the direc- 
tion of A. S. McALLISTER. 1359 pages, 734 bv 
114 inches. Illustrations from drawings and pho- 
tographs. Miscellaneous Publication No. 120. 
Washington: 1933: U. S. Department of Com- 
merce, Bureau of Standards. 33. 

The Bureau of Standards offers this encyclo- 
pedical volume covering nationally recognized stand- 
ards relating to the metals as adopted by the indus- 
try in its many branches. It covers not alone the 
standards and specifications, but methods of testing, 
analyses, heat treatment, and the like. 


WIND PRESSURE ON A MODEL OF THE 
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. By Носн L. 
Davpen and Georce C. Нил. 31 pages, 6 by 
9 inches. Illustrations from drawings and one pho- 
tograph. Research Paper No. 545. Pamphlet 
binding. Washington: 1933: U. S. Department 
of Commerce, Bureau of Standards. 5 cents. 


DEBT AND PRODUCTION. The Operating 
Characteristics of Our Industrial Economy. By 


Basserr JONES. 147 pages, 614 by 914 inches. 
Illustrated with graphs. New York: 1933: The 
John Dav Company. 32.50. 

The profession knows Bassett Jones as an author- 
ity on elevators and other things. Coming to the 
conclusion that the literature of economics, as ap- 
plied to our present-day problems, does not fit the 
case, he has undertaken to set down certain facts. 
As might be expected of an engineer, Mr. Jones is 
dissatisfied with words as such. There are about 
twenty-two thousand of them in the English lan- 
guage, most of which may mean almost anything 
one takes them to mean. "Therefore, Mr. Jones 
writes in mathematical formulae rather than in 
words. Moreover, he courts no argument. He says 
that either the statistics employed by him or his 
method of analysis may be fundamentally in error— 
in which case it is a matter for proof, not for argu- 
ment. 


PRACTICAL ENGRAVING AND ETCHING. 
A Book of Instruction in the Art of Making Lino- 
leum Blocks, Wood-Engravings, Woodcuts Made 
on the Plank, Etchings and Aquatints. By E. G. 
Lurz. 248 pages, 5 by 714 inches. Illustrations 
from drawings. New York: 1933: Charles Scrib- 
ner's Sons. $2. 

E. G. Lutz has proven in many books his ability 
to teach through the printed word. In the present 
volume he makes clearly understandable the cutting 
of linoleum or wood blocks, and the technical proc- 
esses of etching and aquatint. His own drawings 
leave no step of the various processes in doubt. 


INDUSTRIAL LIGHTING. Part 1, Docks, Ware- 
houses and Their Approaches. By J.S. Preston. 
Illumination Research Technical Paper No. 14. 
34 pages, 6 by 914 inches. Illustrations from 
graphs and photographs. Pamphlet binding. 
Printed in Great Britain. New York: 1933: His 
Majesty's Stationery Office (The British Li- 
brary of Information). 20 cents. 


THE REDUCTION OF NOISE IN BUILDINGS. 
Recommendations to Architects. By Hope 
BAGENAL and P. W. Bannerr. Building Re- 
search Bulletin No. 14. 29 pages, 6 by 916 inches. 
Illustrations from drawings. Pamphlet binding. 
Printed in Great Britain. New York: 1933: His 
Majesty’s Stationery Office (The British Library 
of Information). 20 cents. 


The house from the west, with the music-room end in the foreground 


House of Alfred Hopkins, Architect, 


Photographs by 


ELLEN 
SHIPMAN 


As the plan shows, the 
house is in two rather 
distinct parts joined by 
a cloister. In addition 
to the main house, the 
studio contains the mu- 
sic room and Mr. Hop- 
kins's quarters. The 
garden wall to the east, 
the end of the garage, 


Princeton, N. J. 


Robert Tebbs 


урэ" 


SECOND FLOOR PLAN 


LANDSCAPE 
ARCHITECT 


x. and a low wall to the 
south, complete the en- 
closure for the garden 
court. The terrace to 
the west of this court is 
several steps above the 
garden, slightly above 
the music-room floor, 
and a step above the 

living-room floor 


De? 


South end of the studio build- 
ing and the low wall enclosing 
the garden. On the exterior 
Mr. Hopkins has used lime- 
stone four inches thick backed 
bv cinder block. This lime- 
stone is in a mixture of chan- 
nel-face and shot-sawn slabs, 
giving variety of texture and 
color 


South end of the studio building, 

as seen from across the garden 

court. There is a small lily-pool 

visible in the lower left corner of 
the photograph 


< ARCHITECTURE > 


274 


The terrace, which overlooks 

the garden to the right. In the 

distance is the cloister joining 

the two buildings. A gradu- 

aled heavy slate has been used 
for the roofs 


Looking across the south end of 
the garden toward the end of the 
garage. Pigeons have made their 
home in the loft prepared for 
them, and add to the Old-World 
character of the place 


« ARCHITECTURE $ 


275 


The front entrance from the east. In view of the size of the propertv and the loca- 
tion of the existing trees, Mr. Hopkins gave up the debatable advantage of leading 
the driveway entrance to or near the front door, as may be seen from the plan 


€ ARCHITECTURE $ 
276 


The garden gate in the east wall near the garage. A free translation of the in- 
scription would be: “То every bird its own nest appears the most beautiful.” 
This and the capping of the wall are of cast stone 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


277 


Mr. Hopkins has achieved a remarkable unity in his stone work, even though the exterior wall is of lime- 
stone, and the mullions and trim are of cast stone. The latter were made by a mould method which 
avoids any suggestion of a moulded product. The gutter and downspouts are of lead-coated copper 
< ARCHITECTURE > 


278 


North end of the studio, with the windows of the music room. The raking light 

brings into relief the texture of the stone work, and indicate. at it was not alone 

through a choice of cutting, but also through judicious setting, slightly out of the 
plane, that the great charm of the wall was obtained 


< ARCHITECTURE >> 


279 


The south end of the music 
room, showing the doors lead- 
ing (left) to the terrace, and to 
the book room. The organ loft 
is over the latter room, and the 
sound enters through a wood 
grille in the book-room ceiling 


The dining-room. Here lime- 
stone was used for the inside fac- 
ing 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


280 


Throughout the interior, Mr. 
Hopkins has sought a feeling 
af masonry structure rather 
than the usual plaster veneer. 
These walls are of cinder 
block, painted a very light buff 
with a cold-water paint. The 
stone of the fireplace is all cast 


The doorway leading from the 
music room to the book room. In 
the former the walls are of cinder 
block, painted, but any sense of 
coldness that might be expected 
from this is dispelled 
warmth and intricate desi; 
the plaster ceiling, tinted ivory 
and antiqued 


< ARCHITECTURE > 


281 


The breakfast bay, forming an ell in the dining-room, and giving an intimate 
view of the garden. The moulding and carving of oak in the doors and ceiling 
beams are the more effective for the foil of stone walls. In the interior decora- 
tion the Hutaff Studios collaborated with Mr. Hopkins 


« ARCHITECTURE $ 


282 


Rake, Riser, and Tread: I 


A PROPOSED SOLUTION OF THE STAIRWAY'S ETERNAL TRIANGLE 


By Jamieson Parker, A. LA. 


T seems a curious fact, when one 
thinks of it, that in prehistoric 
times man solved one mechanical 
problem with such perfect success 
that in all the centuries since—in- 
cluding our admittedly clever twen- 
tieth—he has never bettered his in- 
vention. The stairway remains our 
best device for moving the human 
body, by its own effort, from one 
level to another. 

Two other means of ascent and 
descent, the ladder and the ramp, 
are probably of equal antiquity, but 
they both actually are special cases 
of the stairway adapted to their 
special conditions. Stairways proper 
are inclined at angles varying from 
about 8° to 48°. Below 8? the ramp 
is more practical, and as steepness 
increases above 48° the stairway 
gradually becomes a ladder. 

Even more remarkable than man’s 
contentment with a mechanical de- 
vice so extremely ancient is his ap- 
parent lack of desire to find out any- 
thing about it. Through untold 
ages he has stumbled up and tum- 
bled down, skinned his knees and 
broken his bones, using stairways 
which somehow seemed wrong; but, 
whatever he may have discovered in 
the past about stair proportions, his 
oral. present knowledge of the sub- 
ject seems to be summed up in three 
arithmetical rules, each supposedly 
containing the secret truth, each 
giving a widely different set of an- 
swers, and each, if taken seriously 
and followed, capable of producing 
stairways of worse proportions than 
common sense will allow. 

Both laymen and architects know 
that stairways are comfortable or 
uncomfortable, safe or dangerous, 
depending on their design, which, 
like other kinds of design, includes 
first, basic form, and second, detail. 
The basis of form is the proportion 
of tread and riser, The treatment of 
details, such as size and shape of 
nosings, materials used, handrails 
and methods of construction, is an 
important part of the subject; much 
could be written on these matters, 
and it happens that a good deal of 
useful information on them is now 
available. But this article has in 
view the far more neglected question 


of proportions—their functions, usu- 
al methods of calculation, and possi- 
ble improvement by a new standard. 

A few simple facts underlie the 
consideration of stair proportions. 
One riser together with an adjacent 
tread form one unit of a stairway, 
the purpose of which is to receive 
one unit of the ascending and de- 
scending motions. Riser and tread 
are the vertical and horizontal com- 
ponents of a diagonal resultant mo- 
tion of the body. A stairway for the 
use of many persons should obvi- 
ously be designed in scale with the 
average body's most natural move- 
ments; therefore, whatever the 
pitch, or rake, the combined effect 
of riser and tread should approxi- 
mate some constant. This is not a 
constant of effort, because the work 
done in ascending one unit in a steep 
stairway is greater than in a less 
steep one, although they may be 
equally well proportioned. Nor is it 
a constant of pure motion. The mo- 
tion accomplished by the body is 
less on the steep stairway, just as the 
effort is greater. If it were clearly 
one or the other the problem would 
be less confusing. Ascent and de- 
scent are performed by that ma- 
chine, the human body, with its 
complex interaction. of bones and 
muscles working against nature's 
impediments of inertia, friction, and 
gravity. What this machine does in 
moving over a stairway unit, up or 
down, involves motions, efforts, and 
forces of different kinds, all combin- 
ing into a unit of mechanical action. 

The comfort and safety of a stair- 
way depend primarily on the value 
of this constant. If the total of riser 
and tread is too great, ascent and de- 
scent become tiring successions of 
more or less spasmodic efforts in- 
stead of series of natural rhythmic 
movements. On the other hand, too 
small a unit causes discomfort by 
cramping the free swing of the body, 
and danger from the tendency to 
overstep. 

This idea of a constant unit of ac- 
tion leads to the logical and cor- 
rect conclusion that for differently 
pitched stairways to be equally sat- 
isfactory an increase in the riser 
should accompany a decrease in the 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


283 


tread, and vice versa. Can this con- 
stant be found, and a law derived 
from it to guide us in the rates of 
change? If there were such a law 
it seems not unreasonable that it 
should express summation, as by 
addition or multiplication. For in- 
stance, an 8" riser requires about 
9" or 10" for the tread; if we make 
a rule that riser plus tread ought to 
equal 17" or 18" we have provided 
a constant and a simple variation of 
the right general type. Inches 
taken from the riser are merely 
added to the tread. As all architects 
know, this is actually one of the old 
standard rules—though indeed a 
very poor one. When it appeared 
that for some riser heights this rule 
failed to "work," other systems of 
summation were tried; however, not 
one has been found so consistently 
reliable as to gain exclusive accept- 
ance. Authoritative reference books 
have therefore adopted the expedi- 
ent of stating several rules without 
expressed preference; as, for exam- 
ple, in the following quotation from 
Kidder's valuable “Architects and 
Builders’ Handbook" : 

“Several rules have been given for 
proportioning the run to the rise: 

'(1) The sum of the rise and run 
should be equal to from 17 to 17% 
inches. 

“(2) The sum of two risers and a 
tread should be not less than 24 nor 
more than 25 inches. 

“(3) The product of the rise and 
run should be not less than 7o nor 
more than 75. 

“These rules apply only to stairs 
with nosings." 

Referring to the last statement, it 
would seem that nosings have actu- 
ally nothing to do with the propor- 
tions of rise and run, because no 
matter how wide or narrow the nos- 
ing may be, the relative widths of the 
treads are not affected, nor the 
relative dimensions of treads and 
risers; and proportions concern only 
relative values. 

In the following discussion the 
width of the tread (T) is regarded as 
the horizontal distance between suc- 
cessive riser faces, and the riser 
height (R) as the vertical distance 
from one tread surface to the next. 


Examining the three common 
rules, as correctly stated by Kidder, 
one first notices the evident fact that 
no two can agree for all values of 
either R or T. A clear picture is 
seen by plotting graphs of the three 
equations, assuming optional con- 
stants. (See dotted and dashed 
lines, Fig. 1) А+ T — 17 and 

are straight-line equa- 
tions agreeing at one point, where 
R=8,T = 9. RT = 75isa hyper- 
bolic curve meeting 2R + T = 2 
at two points, namel 

10, and R = 5, 15. 

17 almost agrees with RT 
where in the latter R = T 7 
about 824, but differs with increas- 
ing rapidity as the risers become 
lower. The following table gives a 
few values for comparison: 


TREADS FOR VARIOUS RISERS AC- 
CORDING TO THREE COMMON 


It is evident from the above that 
these three rules are inconsistent as 
guides for proportion. Their only 
close approach to agreement is for 
risers of about 8”. 

Many experienced architects have 
learned, by the costly method of 
trial and error, how to employ these 
rules discreetly; just when it is safe 
to use a certain one of them and 
when it is not; when this one should 
be compensated in such a way, or 
temporarily discarded for that one; 
and when they should all be aban- 
doned in favor of some better pro- 
portions discovered in practice. 
The architect may use some of the 
rules for preliminary calculations, or 
quote them lightly as general guides 
to draftsmen, but as final authority 
he mistrusts them. His faith actu- 
ally abides in his own mental experi- 
ence table; he has repudiated the 
rules without fully admitting it. 
Students, however, and architects in 
early practice (and their clients) are 
deprived of such beneficial experi- 
ence, and seeing the rules set forth 
in the best reference books, they 
conscientiously try to follow them 
and do the best they can with the 
hit-and-miss conclusions. That the 
resulting stairways are often hit-and- 
miss affairs is not unnatural. 


The dotted and dashed lines repre- 
sent the three common rules for stair propor- 
tions. (The significance of the solid curved 

line will be discussed later) 


The occasional malformation of a 
stairway is of course distressing to 
the owner and architect and all 
who suffer from its use. But by sub- 
tle suggestion rather than direct mis- 
guidance the old rules have done a 
much greater harm than this, and 
will continue to be a damaging in- 
fluence as long as they are taught 
and published for reference. Col- 
lectively they have distorted even 
the well-trained architect's sense of 
proportions for all stairways with 
low risers (6" or less) because it is 
here that they agree, in effect, by 
giving their most extremely bad 
values. A resulting fact is that with 
few exceptions the so-called “easy” 
stairway has treads so deficient in 
breadth as to be really comfortable 
only for small women and children; 
the average adult finds it "easy" 
only to fall down on. It is true that 
experience generally has taught the 
architect to add a few inches to the 
widest treads given by the rules, but 
not realizing the greatness of their 
error, and probably holding in the 
sub-conscious a surviving trace o 
his early faith in them, he very sel- 
dom adds enough. 

An example of such a stairway 
might be found at the entrance of an 
important public building. The 
visitor approaches on the sidewalk 
at his normal walking gait. Reach- 
ing the first step and starting to as- 
cend, he finds he must suddenly 
change his motion in one of three 
ways: either (1) curtail his stride, 
maintain his rhythm and lose speed, 
or (2) maintain his speed at a cur- 
tailed stride by accelerating his 
rhythm, or (3) increase the whole 
scale of effort by taking two steps 
at a time. But all of these ascend- 
ing motions are uncomfortable, be- 


Mr. Parker concludes his article 
in ARCHITECTURE for December, 
explaining in detail how his pro- 
posed formula is derived and giv- 
ing diagrams and tables facili- 
tating an understanding and use 
of the principle —Epiror. 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


284 


cause they make a break in the 
natural flow of movement enjoyed 
on the level. Without good eye- 
sight and close attention the abrupt 
change may cause a stumble. A 
similar discomfort is met in de- 
ending and the danger is much in- 
sed. Holding back the stride to 
fit the steps requires more braking 
power against gravity. If the tread 
1 -rstepped the fall will be serious. 
rways with treads too wide 
are also uncomfortable though not 
so dangerous except in extreme 
cas This fault is a rare one. 

There is obvious need for a new 
standard of stairway proportions, 
based on practical investigation and 
expressed, if possible, in a simple, 
trustworthy rule. The writer has 
sought to accomplish this and here 
submits the results, believing they 
will provide a better standard than 
any now in common use. 

Analysis of the stairway unit dis- 
closes not two but three elements— 
riser, tread, and angle of rake—any 
two of which establish the third. 
Riser divided by tread is the tan- 
gent of the angle of rake. The 
steepness, hence the whole char- 
acter, of a stairway depends on the 
rake; therefore is it not reasonable 
to consider it the fundamental ele- 
ment? Imagine an inclined plane of 
clay, out of which, with knife in 
hand, we are to carve a stairway. 
We may work to any scale—such as 
a minute stairway for elves, or a 
huge one for giants. But the ratio of 
tread and riser, at any scale, will be 
the same. Our definite object is to 
determine a pair of values, for each 
angle of rake, suited in size to the 
most natural movement of the aver- 
age adult human body. 

For any given rake the pairs of 
tread and riser values depend on the 
establishment of either one of them. 
Of the two, which should have first 
consideration ? The riser is the unit 
of up or down motion and the tread 
is the unit of forward horizontal mo- 
tion. The functions of a stairway 
are ascent and descent—up and 
down—therefore it would seem that 
the riser is second in functional or- 
der of the three elements. The tread 
would then come last, being merely 
the measure of supplementary hori- 
zontal motion. So we have first the 
rake, fixing the total shape of the 
stairway, then the riser or unit of 
vertical motion, and finally from 
these two the tread, which spaces 
the horizontal motion in scale with 
the vertical. 


A critical reading of present-day specifications, even those 
from offices nationally and internationally known, reveals 
at least two common shortcomings : first, the continuance of 
outworn provisions; second, the substitution of mere ver- 
bosity for explicit direction. The building crafts move on, 
but too frequently the architect's specifications fail to keep 
pace; the writer of specifications, in far too many cases, 
is ignorant of improved technic in the building trades and 
Jondly believes he is hiding this ignorance behind a flow of 
traditional phrases. The tolerant contempt with which a 
skilled artisan views these lapses is not a pleasant thing 


Better Practice 
By IF. F. Bartels 


to witness. Either the architect must set his house in or- 
der, as to specifications and detail drawings, or risk dis- 
credit, not only for himself but for the profession as a whole. 

It has seemed to us that ARCHITECTURE might render a 
service in seeking out the latest and most fully approved 
technic from among those most skilled in the various trades, 
passing along to the profession our findings as weighed and 
approved by a man of long experience in supervision on the 
Job —W. F. Bartels. This series of monthly articles will 
not parallel, necessarily, the usual order of building pro- 
cedure. Next month, the hot water service —Eviror. 


PLUMBING: (B) WATER SUPPLY 


13—INVESTIGATION 


EFORE writing the section of 

his plumbing specification deal- 
ing with water lines, the architect 
should make several investigations. 
First, he should determine the kind 
of water the district provides. Sev- 
eral of the larger pipe manufacturers 
furnish analyses gratis, as well as 
advice concerning which pipe to use 
for such water. Having chosen the 
pipe, he should next find out what 
the water pressure in the main will 
be at the place he expects to have 
it tapped. This will help him de- 
termine whether or not he can call 
for flushometers with the assurance 
that they will work. Next, the 
architect should determine what 
size tap from the main is allowed 
by the local ordinances for the type 
of building he is planning. If he 
feels that it would be too small for 
the building’s requirements, he may 
be able to get it changed, or possibly 
bring in two lines to his building 
from the main, 


14—SPECIFIC DESIGNATION OF 

MATERIAL 

Materials should be specifically 
mentioned and the extent of their 
use outlined briefly. If lines of a 
certain material are to be used up 
to a certain point, and from there 
on different pipe, they should be so 
specified. it cue class of pipe is to 
be used for certain lines only, these 
lines should be specifically men- 
tioned. This does not mean that 
the architect should limit his speci- 
fication to one particular brand. 
Far from it. To do so might be 
against the interest of his client. 
But it does mean that the compe- 


By means of the paragraph 
numbers the reader is referred 
to the illustrations. Where more 
than one drawing illustrates a 
point in a paragraph the suc- 
cessive illustrations are also 
lettered, i.e., 17-4, 17-B, ete. 


tition among bidders should be 
limited to the particular quality 
called for. Manv architects do not 
believe in long specifications. But 
specifications should be long enough 
to cover all points necessary to safe- 
guard the owner's interest. How- 
ever, merely because a specification 
is long, it does not necessarily follow 
that it is complete, any more than 
it follows that n short one is in- 
complete. 


15—SAMPLES—STANDARD BRANDS 


It is well for the architect to keep 
to time-proved, standard brands in 
his specification. This saves his 
client from being a “clinie patient," 
and having various experiments 
tried out on him. To make experi- 
ments at the expense of a client is 
unfair, unless the latter fully realizes 
his position. To further safeguard 
himself the architect should call for 
a sample of practically everything 
to be used. In the last few years 
many manufacturers have put out 
a "competitive line." While this 
bears their name, it is not the prod- 
uct glowingly described in their ad- 
vertisements. A sample submitted 
will prevent the architect from hav- 
ing the cheaper product " put over” 
on him by an unscrupulous con- 
tractor, who, while he knew what 
the architect meant, legally could 
provide the less desirable product. 


285 


It is advisable for the architect to 
scrutinize the sample closely and 
compare it with the other lines of 
the same manufacturer. 


16—SIZES 


The thickness, as well as the size, 
of the pipe should be carefully 
stated. In the average house stand- 
ard thickness will probably be 
adequate, although some thought 
should be given to whether or not 
a heavier line might well be used 
from the main to the inside of the 
building. That regular brass pipe, 
and not the tubing, is desired, should 
be so stated by calling for all brass 
pipe to be I. P. S. (iron pipe size). 
Also the diameter of all lines, from 
mains to branches, should be stated. 
The lines should be adequate. If 
there is more than one bathroom in 
the house remember that other fix- 
tures may need water simultane- 
ously. It is better to have pipes 
oversize than undersize, as any one 
who has soaped himself and then 
had to wait for water, can testify. 
Remember that to double the ca- 
pacity of a line costs less than 25 
per cent more for everything, in- 
cluding labor. If it is possible, a 
size or two larger than the tap at 
the main should be used to carry 
the water into the building. Then, 
once inside the building it should be 
increased one size again. This will 
lessen the pressure drop through 
friction, to a minimum. If flush- 
ometers are to be used the manufac- 
turer should be consulted in regard 
to size and pressure necessary for 
their operation, because in most 
cases the standard 14” tap allowed 
will not suffice. 


The work to be covered bv the 
specification should be carefully 
surveyed. If the contractor is to 
obtain or furnish meters, fish traps 
and other necessary items, it should 
be so stated. The use of materials 
should be given careful thought, 
and this thought transferred to 
paper, so that the plumber will 
know from reading plans and speci- 
fications what is expected of him, 
and not have to rely on mind 
reading. 


17—CUTTING AND FITTING 

In cutting pipe there is generally 
a burr formed on the inside of the 
pipe. The specification should call 
for this to be removed. Leaving it 
on results in a loss in the cross- 
section area of the pipe. In small 
sizes this loss is far greater than 
would be supposed. For brass pipe 
it is advisable to call for a friction 
type of wrench to be used, rather 
than to have the pipe chewed up 
by the careless use of Stillson 
wrenches. All wicking should be 


prohibited in the making up of 


Joints,. and nothing permitted ex- 
cept boiled linseed oil. 


18—LOCATION; SUPPORT; 

` PROTECTION 

The hot water lines should be 
located from 6" to 12" away from 
the cold water lines; crossing of the 
two should be avoided. All lines 
should be well supported by ade- 
quate hangers and supports. How- 
ever, fill lines for house tanks should 
not be anchored to any structural 
steel. If this is done there are grave 
possibilities that the pump vibra- 
tions will be carried through the 
house. All lines and branches 
should be run so as to drain to a 
low point in the cellar, at which 
oint a valve should be provided. 
No lines should be run in outside 
walls if it is possible to avoid doing 
so. Any lines so run should be 
covered, as will be described later. 
Nor should water or any other lines 
be run in such places as fire walls, 
or other vital locations, where in 
case of trouble serious damage 
might result. And of course, pipes 
over or near entrances should be 
avoided. If there are two lines 
entering: the building, as there 
should be for every large one, it is 
necessary to have these lines cross- 
connected. The roughing will be 
lined up so that all valves project 
from the finish the same distance. 
Walls should not be curved or 
slanted in order to catch all the 


valves and avoid burying them in 
the wall. All pipes should be capped 
when the roughing-in is completed, 
to avoid any dirt or rubbish getting 
in them. These caps must be kept 
on until the fixtures are set. 


19—GENERAL REQUIREMENTS; 

NOISE AND MOVEMENT 

The plumber should furnish the 
necessary cut-off required at the 
curb line, and should supply an 
extra heavy sleeve where the line 
comes through the exterior wall. 
This he must make watertight. It 
is prudent to require a swing after 
the line enters the building to take 
care of any shifting or movement 
due to expansion or other causes. 
Sharp bends in the lines are to be 
studiously avoided. Air cushions 
above all fixtures should be called 
for in order to take up the shock 
caused by the quick closing of a 
valve. 


20—VALVES AND FITTINGS 


Definite locations and types of 
valves should be given. A little 
extra money spent for valves in the 
proper places will be well repaid. 

alves should be of a good quality 
but need not be expensive. What 
might be termed cheap valves 
should be avoided. 

Fittings, such as elbows, coup- 
lings, tees, etc., are generally made 
in two types: regular, and cast-iron 
pattern. The first are good on all 
regular work where the pressure is 
not too great and the size is normal. 
In large sizes and where high pres- 
sures are used it is better to use the 
cast-iron pattern type, which is dis- 
tinguishable not only by its addi- 
tional size and weight, but also by 
its heavy shoulder in contrast to 
the bead or flat band of the regular 
type. 

ipples should be specified— 
whether they are to be standard or 
extra heavy. Many engineers pre- 
fer not to use close nipples, and if 
they have to use them specify the 
extra heavy type, but plumbers will 
not install them unless forced to. 
Close nipples can be avoided in 
most places by good workmanship. 

Elbows and tees should be the 
standard type of a well-known 
brand. lt pays to specify recog- 
nized manufacturers’ products be- 
cause if they supply defective ma- 
terial, in most cases they will not 
only furnish new material, but pay 
for its installation as well. 

In good work, rights and lefts are 
generally called for where unions 


< ARCHITECTURE > 
286 


IUSHINGS 


might otherwise be used. They are 
indeed more workmanlike but are 
more difficult to install and hence 
are avoided by most mechanics. 
Many times, bushings are pro- 
hibited without a genuine, logical 
reason being given. The architect 
may feel that they slow up the 
water, inasmuch as they would 
form a shoulder in the line in the 
case of most small jobs. The 
plumber is more familiar with the 
real reason, however, and he gen- 
erally will forbid them, even if the 
architect does not. Mechanics are 
prone not to make the bushing-up 
tight, and, with only a few threads 
caught, any bending or swaying will 
cause a leak. Instead of specifying 
bushings it is preferable to state 
that reducers must be used. | 
Check valves are used where it 
is desired to have the water flow 
in one direction only. They are 
very convenient to install in a 
domestic hot water system to make 
certain the direction of flow. Angle, 
globe and gate valves are a part of 
the plumbing or heating equip- 
ment of almost every building. 
Globe valves are better adapted to 
steam systems because they are 
better modulators than gate valves. 
It is well, even on the small house, 
to have all valves tagged and a chart 
furnished. This is very convenient 
particularly if one is going away 
and wishes to leave instructions. 
Jumpers or cross-overs will sel- 
dom be necessary if the work has 
been properly laid out. 


21—COPPER TUBING 

Copper water tubing has come 
into extensive use in alterations 
and repair work. It lends itself to 
installations where it would be 
difficult if not impossible to use 
ordinary pipe. It eliminates costly 
cutting and patching through the 
fact that it can be drawn through 
cramped spaces. In many cases 
bends may be used instead of el- 
bows, but care must be taken that 
the pipe is not flattened in bending, 
causing it to lose its cross-section 
area. Likewise, it must be protected 
from materials bumping. and dent- 
ing it. Where connections to rigid 
pipes are necessary fittings may be 
obtained for this purpose. The 
architect should keep its possibili- 
ties in mind. 


22—GAS PIPING 

Before the architect specifies gas- 
pipe sizes he would do well to con- 
sult both the local ordinances and 


the local gas companies. The sizes 
they demand will be minimum ones. 
The plumber will be required to 
connect any line or meter the gas 
company furnishes, and must sup- 
ply all valves, fittings, and other 
accessories necessary to complete 
the system. Proper drips must be 
put on all lines. No lines are to be 
run where they may be subject to 
damage, such as by trucking; and, 
if possible to avoid it, not where the 
condensation of cold water lines 
may drip on them. All the lines 
must be properly supported. Rights 
and lefts are to be used instead of 
unions, because of the danger of 
leaking. In residences proper at- 
tention must be given to the placing 
of the kitchen stove in order that its 
gas outlet may be located in the 
most advantageous place. It is 
better to exclude the stove from the 
plumbing contract, or in it to have 
a certain cash allowance made, in 
case it is desired to change the style. 
But the connecting up of the stove 
is to be included in this contract. 


23—CUTTING AND PATCHING 

Cutting and patching is an item 
to be given careful thought in any 
trade, particularly plumbing. If the 
work is necessitated by the plumb- 
er's own mistakes or carelessness, 
he should not charge for it. If other 
trades are responsible for his having 
to do excess БУШ thev should 
pav for the work. But no cutting 
or patching should be done without 
the superintendent's permission. 

Checking over.some plumbing 
lines one day on a job, I found that 
a plumber had brought a 124" line 
directly across the middle of a room 
having 3" by 8" beams. He had 
cut out a section of each beam fully 
2" square for the pipe, but had 
no conception that what he had 
done would weaken the beams. I 
asked him why he had done it and 
he replied, “Oh, I didn't want to 
bother the carpenter." 


24—PAINTING 


A definite statement - covering 
which pipes are to be painted is far 
better confined to one lucid para- 
graph in the specification (even 
though a cross-reference must be 
made), than to drop casual hints 
from time to time. "The former is 
more definite, specific and satisfac- 
tory for every one, bečause the 
manner, color, and extent of the 
painting can be more adeguately 
described. . 


All lead bends which come in 
contact with cinders or cinder con- 
crete should be painted with two 
coats of asphaltum paint for pro- 
tection. Besides painting to pre- 
vent the acid in cinders from at- 
tacking lead pipes, as an additional 
means of protection they are often 
encased with roofing paper. Gas 
lines in cinders should also receive 
two coats of asphaltum paint. If 
two coats of paint are specified for 
exposed pipes, contrasting colors will 
help the superintendent. 


REMEMBER-T' PIP 
WITH 1° COVERING 
IS OVER ЗАМ DIA- 


PROVIDE A FAUCET 
TO DRAIN BASE- 
MENT LINES 


25—TESTS 

The architect should make the 
demand in his specifications that 
he is to be given notice of, and must 
pass on, all tests. First will be the 
water test, which should be given 
to see that all the waste, vent, soil 
and leader lines are tight. Then 
there will be an air or water pressure 
test on all the water lines to make 
certain there is no leakage. The 
pressure applied in the latter test 
is generally one and a half times the 
greatest pressure that will be present 


FEMALE ADAPTER RIGID a | 


MALE ADAPTER 


SUPPLY PIPE 


BASEMENT WAL 


VALVE 


when the system is working. Next, 
a test should be made on the entire 
gas system with a pressure of 10” 
of mercury showing on the gauge, 
and the system “holding tight” at 
this reading. Some local authori- 
ties also require a flange inspection 
between toilet floor flange and lead 
bend. After the fixtures are set a 
smoke or peppermint test is required 
in some communities. The traps of 
the fixtures are filled, of course, and 
the test is to detect any defective 
lines or fixtures. 


1 ADAPTERS 
WHEN NECESSARY- 

COPPER TUBING 
| CAN BE JOINED TO 
EXISTING RIGID PIPE 


COPPER TUBING CAN 
READILY BE PULLED | 
THROUGH PARTITIONS 
TO REPLACE RUSTED 
TRON PIPES 


When figuring clearances, remember that pipe cover- 
ing increases the sizes considerably. 

The inspector's foot is a convenient measure of dis- 
tance between hot and cold supply piping. 

Make sure that a faucet, rather than a cap, is pro- 
vided for bottom drainage. 

Consider the finished wall when placing valves in the 
roughing. 


Get long easy bends without flattening, for your flow 
lines, to decrease friction and noise. 

Copper tubing can be joined to rigid pipe where 
necessary, by adapters. 

Here is a new and effective type of coupling or, as 
shown here, tee. 

Copper tubing has a special usefulness in remodelling 
existing work. 


< ARCHITECTURE > 


288 


An old chest Taos, N. M. 


Spanish Architecture of the Southwest 


SOME DETAILS OF WOODWORK AND ADOBE CONSTRUCTION AS DEVELOPED 
FROM THE SPANISH WORK IN SPAIN AND IN MEXICO, TOGETHER WITH SOME 
MODERN ADAPTATIONS 


A chair loft or balcony from the church at Vigas (beams) and their supporting brackets, from 
Santa Cruz Santa Cruz church 


Doors of the church at Trampas 


An adobe inn of stagecoach days, Santa Fé 


Old benches from near Trampas 


A sheltered portal at Penasco 


Ranchos del 
Taos, an 
Indian 
Pueblo church 


Beneath the 
portal of an 
adobe house at 
Chimayo 


Portal of a house near Alcalde 


Patio doorway, Art Museum, Santa Fé. 
I. H. Rapp, architect 


Church at 
Taos : kė ў 7 
A home at Santa Fż—with the typical 

portal or covered porch 


An old bench from Penasco 


A confessional 
in the 
sanctuario, 
Chimayo 


The home of Frank 
Applegate, Santa Fé 


The home of Frank 
Applegate, Santa Fé 


Reginald D. Fohnson, 


Home of Datus E. 
architect 


Myers, Santa Fé 


Patio of La Fonda. a 


Home of Mrs. Mabel 
hotel at Santa Fé 


Luhan at Taos 


Friday, September 1.—One hears un- 
derground rumblings as to the creation 
of a draftsman's union. I think it is 
unlikelv that this will come into being, 
at least in so far as the architectural 
profession is concerned. Nevertheless, 
there are indications here and there that 
the architectural draftsman is suffering, 
like most people, from the fact that his 
emplover is taking advantage of the 
present low labor market. There is a 
temptation—which only some altruism 
will conquer—to the architect who has 
just gotten his first job in a year or two, 
to employ the necessary drafting force 
at the lowest rate he can get. This, in 
the present demoralized architectural 
drafting market, is too low to constitute 
a living wage. It would seem only the 
fair thing for the architect fortunate 
enough to find new work, to share these 
benefits with those of his old or new or- 
ganization who have borne also the heat 
and burden of the day. 


Saturday, September 2.—John H. Mil- 
lar expresses a thought tersely when he 
says, “There is a lot of waste in govern- 
ment to be eliminated—almost as much 
as in business. For example, seven milk 
wagons going past the same house every 
morning; a hundred thousand more oil 
stations than are needed; armies of in- 
surance and real-estate agents pounding 
the streets; industries with four times 
the plant capacity that the market in a 
boom year can absorb, etc." Which re- 
minds me of a remark made by Professor 
Walter Rautenstrauch. Some one asked 
him whether the new sort of social bet- 
terment he visioned did not call for gov- 
ernment by engineers. The professor 
replied: “By no means; government by 
engineers would be quite unfortunate— 
almost as much so as government by 
politicians and lawyers has proven to 


be." 
m 
22 
Monday, September 4—Ohio has 


crashed through with the first Public 
Housing Authority Act, largely through 
the efforts of Ernest J. Bohn, a Cleve- 
land attorney and chairman of the re- 
cent National Conference on Slum 
Clearance in that city. This means that 
here is the first state housing authority 
eligible to receive a grant of 30 per cent 
of the cost of labor and materials from 
the Federal Government, and possibly 
even a loan of the other 7o per cent. 


Wednesday, September 6-—1 have 
never yet read anything of Leicester B. 
Holland's that was not well worth read- 
ing. His “Toward a Nudist Architec- 
ture,” originally delivered to the Phila- 
delphia Chapter at its annual meeting, 
and now reprinted in the Octagon for 
August, is something that no one should 
miss. 


The Editor’s 
Diary 


Friday, September 8 —I hear that the 
Phelps-Stokes Fund is about to under- 
take a comprehensive study of slums 
and blighted areas. Professor James 
Ford, of the Department of Sociology 
at Harvard, the man who edited the 
twelve volumes of the President’s Con- 
ference on Home Building and Home 
Ownership, will direct the investigation. 
The work is expected to require eighteen 
months, and will include the study of the 
causes of these slums, their prevention, 
elimination, and conversion for proper 
housing for other uses. My only regret 
is that the investigation could not have 
been completed by this time so that we 
could proceed with building under the 
Public Works Act with a more assured 
knowledge. 


Monday, September 11.—Yo Albert 
Stewart's studio with Electus Litch- 
field to see the plaster models of a frieze 
around the top of the Albanv Post 
Office and Court House, designed bv 
Gander, Gander & Gander, with N. R. 
Sturgis, associate architect, and Electus 
D. Litchfield, consulting architect. The 
architects are trying a new technique— 
a continuous band eight and a half feet 
high into which is cut a shallow relief— 
two inches at the most—by means of 
pneumatic cutting tools. As may be re- 
called from the preliminary perspective 
of this building, there is no cornice, the 
decorative frieze encircling the building 
with the attic windows penetrating it. 
'The cost of a full sculptured frieze, of 
course, would have been prohibitive, 
but Mr. Stewart has developed a most 
interesting technique in securing a rep- 
resentation of post office and court ac- 
tivities through a succession of flat fig- 
ures on the surface of the model with 
the background cut away. There is only 
the slightest suggestion of drawing on 
the flat surface, with shallow incised 
lines. 


293 


Tuesday, September 12.—Under the 
N.R.A. a loan of twelve million dollars 
goes to Cleveland to be used for housing 
bv a limited-dividend corporation or- 
ganized under Rav T. Miller's Business 
Recoverv Committee, of which Ernest 
J. Bohn is chairman. The housing will 
be of varied types two- and three-story 
apartments, two-story rows of fire- 
proof flats, row houses. There are about 
four thousand family residences to be 
built on sites including about one hun- 
dred acres in the heart of the slum area, 
just east of Cleveland's downtown busi- 
ness section. Rentals will be between 
$8 and $8.50 per room. This is by far 
the largest loan approved thus far under 
the Federal Emergency Administration 
of Public Works. 

St. Louis wins approval for a loan of 
five hundred thousand dollars for its 
Neighborhood Association to build 
three-story fire-proof apartments in a 
downtown slum area, to rent for $9.67 
per room per month. 


Wednesday, September 13.—There has 
been a good deal of general talk to the 
effect that slums are expensive luxuries. 
Here are some figures, according to the 
Indianapolis Community Plan Commit- 
tee: In one particular sore spot of that 
city the cost to the municipality is 
$92,775, while the tax income from the 
same area is $11,312, so this particular 
slum of Indianapolis is costing the city 
more than eight times the income. 


WG 
SS 


Friday, September 15.—Rhodes Rob- 
ertson in from one of his peregrinations 
about Vezelav. He is one of those few 
fortunate mortals able to own a house in 
France, and commute more or less leis- 
urely between France and America. I 
hope soon to show in these pages some 
of his latest sketches made with block 
crayon. 


Saturday, September 16.—The restor- 
ation of Williamsburg seems to have 
reached a plateau on which the action 
will pause while the gains are being con- 
solidated. Mr. Rockefeller has spent 
over eleven million dollars in this work 
in the six years and more that it has been 
under way. Three hundred fifty-two 
buildings of modern construction have 
been torn down, fifty-seven Colonial 
buildings have been restored, sixty-one 
Colonial buildings have been con- 
structed, two business blocks contain- 
ing twenty-five shops and stores have 
been erected. The end, of course, is not 
even in sight. I rather imagine, how- 
ever, that progress will henceforth be 
made more slowly as more property is 
gained by the corporation through the 
termination of long leases. 


Monday, September 18.—Talbot Faulk- 
ner Hamlin calls attention, in The Na- 


tion for August 9, to the disturbing con- 
dition in which the architectural pro- 
fession has been left bv the depression: 
if architects were producing the same 
amount per capita in 1932 as in 1928, out 
of seven architects and draftsmen at 
work in 1928 only one would be busy 
today. In 1928 the work, amounting to 
something over three and a half billions, 
was shared by nine thousand offices. In 
1932, the half billion of work went to 
only fifty-three hundred offices; how- 
ever, the figures for these four years 
show a total of ninety-seven hundred 
new architects. Of course, the bulk of 
the latter figure is probably made up of 
draftsmen out of a job who have hung 
out their shingles. 

In the profession of architecture, as in 
industry, the smaller office is the one 
which rides the storm with less damage 
than the large one. One of the saddest 
findings of all is that in 1932 the total 
income for architectural practice was at 
best less than one-fifth the income in 


EOS 


Tuesday, September 79—ln all the 
talk concerning functionalism in the 
house, there seems to have been very 
little consideration given functionalism 
in the garden. Raymond Hood was 
telling me today at lunch of his own con- 
victions regarding the desirability of 
designing a home so as to provide as 
much as possible outdoor useable space 
—that there should be a gradual transi- 
tion from definitely enclosed space to 
the garden itself. In his own house he 
has a paved terrace sheltered by an over- 
hanging second story, and provided at 
one end with a fireplace. This outdoor 
space is sheltered from the north, is not 
screened against flies and mosquitoes, 
but is used even at meal times from very 
early spring up to the first of January. 
Even a rain does not drive one indoors 
it takes a raw fog to do that. The point 
Hood makes is that in designing the im- 
mediate garden surroundings too many 
of us are apt to aim at what will look 
well and accord with our preconceived 
ideas of garden beauty. We lose track 
of garden usefulness and the garden's 
function as outdoor living space. 


Thursday, September 21.—Professor 
William A. Boring, head of the Colum- 
bia School of Architecture since 1919, 
has been granted a leave of absence for 
a year, and Professor Joseph Hudnut is 
Acting Dean. He is going to revamp the 
architectural course, too, covering con- 
struction methods more extensively, 
and co-ordinating design and construc- 
tion more intimately. The problems in 
design will be based rather more care- 
fully upon the actuality of architecture 
—there will be less of “an embassy for a 
foreign government in a national cap- 
ital" and more of “a branch department 
store for a suburb." 


Saturday, September | 23.— Clarence 
Stein says that the bankruptcy facing 
our larger cities is not so much the result 
of municipal corruption as of the double 
load of supporting slums and blighted 
districts together with the vast expan- 
sion of highways and public utilities, 
which possibly has been said before, but 
he brings up some new facts: in Detroit 
the seventeen square miles forming the 
central core of the city are all blighted 
with the exception of a few small groups 
of modern buildings; in Cleveland the 
Housing Committee of the Chamber of 
Commerce and the city has found 
twenty-two of its seventy-one square 
miles of the city unfit for human living, 
and unremunerative as property; the 
lower east side of New York lost 53 
per cent of its population between 1910 
and 1930; practically every ward within 
three-mile radius of Philadelphia's 
City Hall lost population between 1920 
and 1930. In most urban communities 
the number of subdivided lots is nearly 
twice as great as the number in use. The 
physical structure of our nineteenth- 
century cities fits the needs of our 
twentieth-century life about as well as a 
covered wagon would serve a present- 
day continental tourist. We need a new 
setting for a new era. 


Monday, September 25.—With James 
H. Blauvelt and Stanley R. McCandless 
to see the exhibition of modern rooms 
at Macy's, together with designs for 
houses by various so-called skyscraper 
architects. Harvey Corbett, Raymond 
Hood, Ely Kahn, Leonard Schultze, 
Arthur Harmon, William Van Alen, and 
Lawrence Grant White had been asked 
to design a small country home to fit 
modern life. The newspapers seemed to 


Pattern 
< ARCHITECTURE > 


294 


think that it was something of a heaven- 
born inspiration to bring the brains of 
this steel-structure group to bear upon 
the problem of the small home. Perhaps, 
though it seems to me something rather 
like calling in a gvnecologist to operate 
on one's eve. 


Tuesday, September. 26.—Up to 
Worcester, Mass., to see the opening of 
the Memorial Auditorium designed by 
Frederic C. Hirons in collaboration with 
Lucius W. Briggs. With a seating 
capacity of nearly four thousand, a large 
stage which serves not only the main 
auditorium but a small theatre on its 
other side, and a Memorial Hall of 
magnificent proportions and unusual 
restraint, Worcester now has one of the 
great civic centres of the country. In 
observing the finishing touches to light- 
ing, organ, sound amplification appara- 
tus, and decorations, I was impressed 
by the constantly growing necessity 
for collaboration of the architect with 
many other experts in the creation of a 
modern building. Peter Clark was much 
in evidence supervising the stage equip- 
ment; T. F. Bludworth busy trying to 
adjust his sound amplification to the 
last fine point of efficiency; the organ- 
tuners adjusting electrical controls; 
Professor Sabin of Harvard observing 
the effects of his acoustical treatment, 
and probably wondering just what dif- 
ferences the inclusion of four thousand 
people would make in the reflection of 


sound waves. 
22 
< 
ES 


P Thursday, September 28—J. C. Bebb 
was telling me at lunch today that there 
is a possibility of making a permanent 
park feature in Chicago of one of the 
great observation towers supporting the 
“Skyride.” Instead of scrapping these 
six-hundred-foot observation towers, it 
seems as if both should be utilized per- 
manently rather than being thrown into 
Lake Michigan with most of the rest of 
the Century of Progress Exposition. 


Saturday, September 30. — Winold 
Reiss, who has just been appointed As- 
sistant Professor of Mural Painting at 
New York University, says that “mural 
painters should keep in mind that after 
all it is the other fellow who owns the 
wall; sometimes the owner of the wall 
has some very definite ideas of what he 
wants or what he does not want.” 
Which leads us back to Rockefeller 
Center and some of the difficulties the 
management is having with its mural 
painters. Having dismissed Diego Ri- 
vera and covered up his work, they 
seem now to be trying to answer Frank 
Brangwyn’s question. Having been 
asked to paint something representative 
of the Sermon on the Mount, he seems 
puzzled as to how this can be achieved, 
leaving out, as had been requested, the 
figure of Christ. 


U. 5. Post Office, Hempstead, L, I. 


TOOKER & MARSH, ARCHITECTS; JAMES A. WETMORE, ACTING SUPERVISING 


The exterior of the build- 
ing is of brick in pastel 
shades of brown and red ; 
the trim of limestone. As 
will be seen from the 
plan, a small amount of 
Space in the rear and on 


ARCHITECT OF THE TREASURY 


Photographs by Wurts Brothers 


a second floor over this 
Space is at present util- 
ized by the Government 


for recruiting purposes, 


thus providing econom- 
ically for future expan- 
sion 


The metal work of the main entrance and the windows across the front of the 

building are of aluminum, as are also the lighting standards flanking the main 

entrance. The sculptured panels over the windows, and the abbreviated cornice, 
are of limestone 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


296 


The public space is d 


num. The floor is of ter 


loped in a color scheme of several greens and alumi- 
Aluminum appears in doors, grilles, check 


desks, and lighting fixtures 


< ARCHITECTURE $ 


29 


Above, a corner view from the rear, showing at the right the mailing platform. 


The only part of the building below grade is that under the rear end block 

oni J g g i > 

providing for boiler-room space and storage. Below, the workroom, which has 
a wood wainscot and wood block floor 


DEVOTED TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING 
OF ARCHITECTURE AND 


CONTACTS 


OF 


ITS RELATION TO THE 


THE BUSINESS SIDE 


INDUSTRIES 


MERICA this week is witness to 

a situation which many may 
consider paradoxic and which is at 
least dramatic. 

On Chicago’s lake front lies a 
great World’s Fair—from beginning 
to end a glorification of the scientist 
and the engineer, an exposition of 
the physical achievement of the ma- 
chine age. 

To it this week have come Amer- 
ica’s engineers, But while they look 
and appraise, while they acclaim 
and are acclaimed, the world de- 
clares that the machine age they 
have created has failed and is re- 
sponsible for our present economic 
and social debacle. “ You have con- 
tributed to man's leisure, comfort, 
and convenience," add the chal- 
lengers, “but the results have been 
mental flabbiness and weakened 
morality. There has been no true 
progress." Such are the charges 
thrown at the work of the engineer. 

Has engineering contributed to 
progress ? 

as there /ru/y been a century of 
progress ? 

But there is another reason for 
facing the charge. Even were our 
social and economic systems intact 
and orderly, the meeting of these 
societies at such an exposition would 
demand a discussion of this kind. 
The machine age has been consist- 
ently under challenge for a score of 
years and more particularly since 
the close of the World War. Its ef- 
fect and impact need inquiry, for 
engineering is now the basis of our 
economic system, it determines our 
social order, it goes down into the 
life of every individual and affects 
him for weal or for woe. 

The present depression, therefore, 
does not dictate the topic. It does 
make it more pointed and more per- 
tinent. 

When we speak of progress we 
mean movement or development in 
a desirable direction. I conceive 
that humanity is travelling a long 
road whose desirable direction and 
goal are the happiness of all man- 
kind, accompanied, first, by a wide 
diffusion of this world's goods; sec- 
ond, by the highest order of intel- 
lectual development of which in- 
dividual men are severally capable, 


4 


'The 
Contribution 


of Engineering 
to Progress 


By 
Edward f. Mehren 


PRESIDENT, PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION 


Excerpts from an address before the 
Joint Dinner of the National Engi- 
neering Societies during Engineers’ 
Week at A Century of Progress Ex- 
position, Chicago, June 28, 1933 


and third, by high moral attain- 
ment, which may be expressed as 
that "peace with God and peace 
with ourselves that surpasseth all 
understanding." This is the goal, 
this the ideal. 

But the long road that mankind 
is travelling is cut by ravines and 
chasms, some shallow, some deep 
and precipitous. The ravines and 
chasms are greed, exploitation, op- 
pression, war, hunger and famine, 
insanitary surroundings, disease, ig- 
norance, vice—and all those other 
hindrances which interfere with 
man's progress. At the beginning 
of recorded history, humanity toiled 
down into each of the chasms, forded 
the streams, and toiled up the op- 
posing banks. Progress was slow. 

In time, advancement of the arts, 
better social organization, education 
and religion, built bridges across the 
streams, at first only high enough to 
clear the flood. Further advances 
raised the bridges to higher levels, 
made them safer against floods, and 
reduced both the descent and the 
upward climb. Could the job ever 
be completed, we would build a 
bridge over every chasm from bank 
top to bank top. The chasms in ef- 
fect would disappear and humanity 
would go forward joyously on a high 
road—a true high way—to its destiny. 

Using the simile of the road, our 


299 


questions can be paraphrased in 
this way: 

“Has engineering helped to build 
bridges over the chasms, has it 
raised them to higher levels, has it 
made them more secure, has it 
brought nearer that high road with- 
out dips, on which humanity can go 
forward joyously to happiness, to 
more uniform enjoyment of this 
world's goods, to high intellectual 
and moral attainment ?" 

I take it that it is entirely un- 
necessary to speak of engineering 
achievements in themselves. The 
whole world concedes that in every 
branch of engineering our machines, 
mechanisms, processes, and struc- 
tures outstrip those of any previous 
day. 

We are interested here, however, 
not primarily in machines but in 
their effects. 

Our first inquiry properly relates 
to the influence of engineering on so- 
cial progress; that is, on the dis- 
tribution of wealth, on its effect on 
men—its effect on them externally 
and in their relations to others. 

The question of wealth deserves 
special consideration. Wealth to- 
day is not only greater in the aggre- 
gate, but more widely diffused. 
The distribution is not entirely 
equitable, but it is not so dispropor- 
tionate as those imagine who think 
only of private property and forget 
the immense treasury of community 
wealth. The first is the possession of 
the individual; the second, the pos- 
session of all, for their comfort, con- 
venience and use. In community 
wealth never were people richer—in 
the number and quality of streets 
and roads, in the purity and ampli- 
tude of water supply, in the sanita- 
tion and lighting of cities, in fire and 
police protection, in courts of jus- 
tice, in medical, educational and 
recreational facilities. 

How can we account for this in- 
crease in the standard of living, this 
extraordinary social progress, this 
wide diffusion of wealth ? 

The explanation lies in a profound 
but very simple fact, as funda- 
mental and as elemental in the eco- 
nomic order as the commandment, 
“Thou shalt not steal," is in the 
moral. If we are to appreciate the 


significance of the engineer and the 
engineering age, if we are to com- 
prehend the world through which 
we have been passing, if we are to 
penetrate the present economic con- 
vulsion, and understand the eco- 
nomics of what is ahead, we must 
understand this primal fact and let 
it sink into our consciousness. That 
fact is this: 

that through the engineer's develop- 

ment of power we produce wealth 

more rapidly today than at any 
previous period in man's history. 

It is this increase in the rate of 
wealth production that has given us 
the facilities, conveniences, com- 
forts, and advantages of which I 
have spoken. To this do we owe 
our great private and community 
wealth, our high standard of living, 
our high level of social advancement. 

We come now to the second part. 
Has engineering contributed to in- 
tellectual and moral development, 
has it bridged at higher levels the 
chasms that have held back his 
spiritual progress ? 

Here our critics will rage. The 
age is decadent, they tell us; we are 
flabby intellectually, we have back- 
slid morally. We have much infor- 
mation, they say, but little wisdom; 
alert perceptions but little culture; 
athletic bodies, but no rigidity of 
moral character. 

Are we able to answer the indict- 
тепе? 

There тау not be a single lumi- 
narv todav of the brilliance of Shake- 
speare, or Dante, or Aristotle, but 
our age is one of striking intellectual 
vigor and activity. We must not 
make the mistake of coloring the en- 
tire Elizabethan age with the stature 
of Shakespeare, nor think that the 
whole Greek world was up to Aris- 
totle's level. 

If our galaxy has not a dominant 
luminary, it nevertheless has many 
great suns. In every line of human 
thought, the output of our research- 
ers is prodigious. If an age is to be 
judged by the sum total of its con- 
tribution to human knowledge, then 
ours must be given high rank. 

Each age, too, has its own Zeit- 
geist, the spirit of the age. Ours is 
science, pure and applied. In those 
fields we are making an intellectual 
contribution of stupendous propor- 
tions. In astronomy, physics, chem- 
istry, biology, medicine, engineering 
we stride with seven-league boots. 

We claim, too, as an intellectual 
accomplishment the spread of edu- 
cation, common, secondary and 


higher, to the masses of men in the 
Western world. To reclaim people 
from ignorance, to open to them the 
storehouses of knowledge and of 
wisdom, to make possible, yes easy, 
for any one who wishes to secure it 
the very highest education, is in- 
deed an accomplishment of which 
the machine age may justly be 
proud. That the education of the 
will has not gone along as lustily as 
the education of the intellect is a 
charge we will have to admit, but it 
does not completely negative the in- 
tellectual achievement. 

But what of our moral life? Who 
shall judge it? Not I. There is no 
more difficult task for the historian 
than to determine the moral tone of 
an age—to strike the average from 
king to peasant, from president to 
humble citizen. In this respect no 
age can be sure of its appraisal of 
itself. The human soul—the millions 
of human souls of the Western world 
—cannot be weighed nor calipered. 

Certainly we are not morally what 
we would like to be or ought to be. 
That can be said of our intellectual 
stature as well. 

But if our age has not risen to the 
intellectual and moral standard that 
we would wish, if we have not raised 
to top height the bridges over the 
chasms that handicap our intellec- 
tual and moral lives, the fault is not 
that of the engineer, but of the very 
teachers, religious leaders, econo- 
mists, and statesmen who are today 
his critics. We find here another 
fundamental and elemental princi- 
ple that should be stressed as strong- 
ly as the rapidity of wealth produc- 
tion. ltis this: that the engineer has 
created an environment far more 
favorable to widespread intellectual 
and moral growth than the world 
hitherto has ever known. 

Let that in turn, be our challenge. 

Here is an environment for spir- 
itual growth such as the world hith- 
erto has never known. Possibly hu- 
manity moves too slowly to make 
full use of this environment at once, 
but blame not the engineer for the 
failure. 

It is because the economist, finan- 
cier, the statesman, the teacher, the 
religious leader have not been able 
to keep pace with the engineer that 
untold difficulties arise. The more 
rapid creation of wealth has changed 
the whole base of Western civiliza- 
tion. It is the misunderstanding of 
this factor and the failure to recog- 
nize its profound and all-pervasive 
influence on finance, business, the 


« ARCHITECTURE $ 


300 


distribution of wealth, national and 
international politics, and on human 
thought and outlook, that have 
thrown the Western world into its 
present crisis and baffled its states- 
men. 

Machine-power agriculture on the 
one hand, and industrial develop- 
ment on the other, have removed 
millions from their attachment to 
the soil, concentrated them in the 
cities and deprived them of their 
security. As Dr. Steinmetz put it, 
they have been exposed to the three 
great fears—fear of unemployment, 
fear of illness, fear of an unprovided- 
for old age. And while this has been 
brought about by the progress of 
power, the statesman, the financier, 
the economist have not kept pace 
and found ways of banishing these 
fears and, by using the new wealth, 
restoring the security that men en- 
joyed when attached to the land. 

Second, there has been tardy rec- 
ognition that too large a proportion 
of the wealth created by the machine 
has been reinvested in more ma- 
chines and too little diverted to con- 
sumable goods and communitv ser- 
vices. It is one of the keen lessons of 
this depression that an age that 
creates wealth as fast as this one 
does will have much of that wealth 
confiscated during depressions if too 
large a proportion goes back into the 
extension of production facilities. 
Here again, finance and political 
economy lag behind the work of the 
engineer. 

A final illustration: Highway 
transport—the combination of the 
hard road and the automobile—has 
made township government and 
small counties obsolete—survivals 
of the horse-and-buggy days. Town- 
ship governments should be abol- 
ished, counties consolidated. The 
automobile makes it logical, but the 
politician insists that the anachron- 
ism continue. 

But be assured that we are mas- 
tering, we will master the new in- 
strument. Much of what has been 
going on in Washington in the last 
three months is an effort in this di- 
rection. The phrase “the forgotten 
man” is not a mere political catch- 
word but the expression of a funda- 
mental social philosophy. 

Our contention, then, is that we 
engineers have not only builded 
higher bridges across the chasms, 
but have furnished the materials 
for still higher bridges if the states- 
men, economists, teachers can learn 
to use them. 


THE EIGHTX-FIFTH IN A SERIES OF COLLECTIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHS 
ILLUSTRATING VARIOUS MINOR ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS 


ARCHITECTURE’S PORTFOLIO OF 


GOTHIC NICHES 


Subjects of previous portfolios are listed below 


1926 
DORMER WINDOWS 
SHUTTERS AND BLINDS 


31927 
ENGLISH PANELLING 
GEORGIAN STAIRWAYS 
STONE MASONRY TEXTURES 
ENGLISH CHIMNEYS 
FANLIGHTS AND OVERDOORS 
TEXTURES OF BRICKWORK 
IRON RAILINGS 
DOOR HARDWARE 
PALLADIAN MOTIVES 
GABLE ENDS 
COLONIAL TOP-RAILINGS 
CIRCULAR AND OVAL WINDOWS 


af 1928 
BUILT-IN BOOKCASES 


CHIMNEV TOPS 
DOOR HOODS 

BAY WINDOWS 
CUPOLAS 

GARDEN GATES 
STAIR ENDS 
BALCONIES 
GARDEN WALLS 
ARCADES 

PLASTER CEILINGS 
CORNICES OF WOOD 


{+1929 

DOORWAY LIGHTING 
ENGLISH FIREPLACES 
GATE-POST TOPS 
GARDEN STEPS 
RAIN LEADER HEADS 
GARDEN POOLS 
QUOINS 
INTERIOR PAVING 
BELT COURSES 
KEYSTONES 
AIDS TO FENESTRATION 
BALUSTRADES 


1930 
SPANDRELS 


CHANCEL FURNITURE 

BUSINESS BUILDING ENTRANCES 
GARDEN SHELTERS 

ELEVATOR DOORS 

ENTRANCE PORCHES 


at left and right of page 


Below are the subjects of 
forthcoming Portfolios 


Curtain Treatment at 
Windows 


DECEMBER 


Exterior Plasterwork 
JANUARY 


Church Doors 


FEBRUARY 


Fountains 
MARCH 


Modern Ornament 
APRIL 


Rustication 
MAY 


Photographs showing interesting 
examples under any of these head- 
ings will be welcomed by the Edi- 
tor, though it should be noted that 
these respective issues are made up 
about six weeks in advance of 
publication date. 


301 


1930, 

PATIOS 

TREILLAGE 
FLAGPOLE HOLDERS 
CASEMENT WINDOWS 
FENCES OF WOOD 
GOTHIC DOORWAYS 


1931 

BANKING-ROOM CHECK DESKS 
SECOND-STORY PORCHES 
TOWER CLOCKS 

ALTARS 

GARAGE DOORS 
MAIL-CHUTE BOXES 
WEATHER-VANES 

BANK ENTRANCES 

URNS 

WINDOW GRILLES 
CHINA CUPBOARDS 
PARAPETS 


1932 

RADIATOR ENCLOSURES 
INTERIOR CLOCKS 

OUTSIDE STAIRWAYS 
LEADED GLASS MEDALLIONS 
EXTERIOR DOORS OF WOOD 
METAL FENCES 

HANGING SIGNS 

WOOD CEILINGS 

MARQUISES 

WALL SHEATHING 

FRENCH STONEWORK 
OVER-MANTEL TREATMENTS 


1933, 

BANK SCREENS 

INTERIOR DOORS 

METAL STAIR RAILINGS 
VERANDAS 

THE EAGLE IN SCULPTURE 
EAVES RETURNS ON MASONRY 
GABLES 

EXTERIOR LETTERING 
ENTRANCE DRIVEWAYS 
CORBELS 

PEW ENDS 


302 ARCHITECTURE NovEMBER, 1933 


H.W. Rowe 


Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson; Howard Shaw 


ELIT VY 


NOVEMBER, 1933 ARCHITECTURE 303 


James Gamble Rogers H. W. Rowe 


Henry C. Pelton; Allen & Collens James Gamble Rogers 


Sab - _ 
tr = FR 
au. 2 ML, >> Mr 
L ET ES mi 


NovEMBER, 1933 


AREHITECTURE 


Day €? Klauder 


Cram, 


Goodhue 


& Ferguson 


Bertram G. 
Goodhue 


AN 


Thomas Nash 


NOVEMBER, 1933 ARCHITECTURE 305 


db 7 7 


James Gamble Rogers 


Cram, Goodhue 
& Ferguson 


Henry Otis 
Chapman 


Cram, Goodhue 
& Ferguson ; 
Howard Shaw 


306 ARCHITECTURE 


Henry C. Pelton ; 


< r- Allen & Collens 


ges Qu Y 


ra 


Charles Z. Klauder 


Henry C. Pelton ; 
Allen & Collens 


NovEMBER, 1933 


«=ч 


es ы 


NovEMBER, 1933 ARCHITECTURE 397 


Robert F. Reiley 


1 
1 


та 
1 Thomas P. Barber 


P 
4 а. Д lif Henry C. Pelton ; 
- NY BME Allen & Collens 


308 ARCHITECTURE NovEMBER, 1933 


Thomas Nash 


Maginnis S АЙ 
Walsh MES 


Cram, Goodhue 
& Ferguson 


399 


ARCHITECTURE 


NoveMBER, 1933 


F. De Lancey 


Robinson 


© 
kl 


= 

E 
A 
a 

+D 

AS 
a 
~ 
< 


ARCHITECTURE NovEMBER, 1933 


Grosvenor 
Atterbury 


Henry C. Pelton; 
Allen & Collens 


NOVEMBER, 1933 ARCHITECTURE 


Maginnis $ 
Walsh 


Cram, Goodhue 
& Ferguson Woe 


AL 


| | 
SÉ Henry C. Pelton; 
x: Allen & Collens 


312 ARCHITECTURE NOVEMBER, 1933 


Edward L. Tilton 


Bertram G. Goodhue; G. Goodhue Associates; 
Walker & Weeks 


Er 
but 


= 


E L echt 


G. Goodhue 


Bertram 


=== 


== жү 


Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson 


M. Ayres 


ARCHITECTURE 
Atlee B. & Robert 


Walsh 


E 
& 


NOVEMBER, 1933 


Maginnis 


314 ARCHITECTURE NOVEMBER, 1933 


ГТ" Henry C. Pelton; 7 je Any 
@ Allen & Collens 7 Al "T^. 


Им 
КЕЛЛИ 
Mu gut 

| тии 


Cram & Ferguson 


Thomas Nash; | 
Karl Bitter. ' 


1933 ARCHITECTURE 


NOVEMBER, 


Thomas P. Barber 


Mayers, Murray 
& Phillip 


B. Rosario Candela 


315 


ARCHITECTURE NOVEMBER, 1933 


Allen & Collens 


Bertram G. Goodhue 


Bertram G. Goodhue Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson 


NOVEMBER, 1933 ARCHITECTURE 9 


Built-in conduit connects five telephone outlets in the residence of Mr. Walt Disney, 4033 Woking Way, Los Angeles, California. 
There is a sixth outlet beside the swimming pool. F. Scorr Cnownunsr, Los Angeles, was the architect. 


| SIX TELEPHONE OUTLETS IN [| © 


THE HOME OF MICKEY MOUSE! 


HicH above Los Angeles, is the handsome new home Telephone conduit, included in walls and floors dur- 
of Mr. Walt Disney, creator of Mickey and Minnie ing construction, conceals all wiring and assures free- 
Mouse, those inimitable, international movie stars. Its dom from most types of service interruptions, New 
telephone arrangements were pre-planned and built-in. outlets can easily be added, or old ones moved, if and 
There are two telephone outlets on the first floor, when the need arises. 
three on the second, and another beside the swim- Telephone convenience is a natural, necessary fea- 
ming pool (not shown in picture or plans). Strateg- ture of modern, livable homes. Telephone companies 
ically placed, the six outlets save time and steps for maintain trained staffs to assist architects in developing 
all the household. No rushing upstairs or efficient telephone arrangements. There is no 


down. Telephones are always close at hand... charge whatever. Just call the local Business Office 


with complete privacy for private conversations. and ask for "Architects" and. Builders" Service," 


FEE ARCHITECTURE'S SERVICE BUREAU 
FOR ARCHITECTS 


ARCHITECTS AND EVERY ONE INTERESTED WILL FIND HERE THE LATEST AND MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION 
AND ACTIVITIES IN THE INDUSTRY. THESE PUBLICATIONS MAY BE HAD BV ADDRESSING ARCHITECTUR 
ARCHITECIS, 597 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. OUR SERVICE BUREAU WILL OBTAIN ANY OTHER CATALOGUE 


o 


‘ BUILDING EQUIPMENT 
S SERVICE BUREAU FOR 
OR DATA YOU REQUIRE, 


1S 


REVOLVING MECHA chilled water at temperatures from 35° to 60° F. 
The Merkle-Korff Gear Co., of 213 North Morgan Concise information and dimensional tables make 

Street, Chicago, announces a line of revolving this file useful. 

mechanisms that are used primarily in retail win- 


5 ` Å : : T BARS, SHAPES AND PLATES 
dows and interior display animation. Those of you 


who have been to the World's Fair were no doubt , Anew catalogue of bars, shapes, plates, and semi- 
attracted to the exhibits showing models of store finished steel has just been published by the Inland 
windows with circular fronts conforming with cir- Steel Co., of Chicago, First National Bank Building. 
cular floors whose revolving was actuated by Merkle- This new edition incorporates all the up-to-date 
Korff Flexo-Action revolving mechanisms. Before changes in extras and includes data on tolerances 
going further with designs for shop fronts and in- and sizes of all standard Inland products. 


teriors you will want to know more about this equip- 1 
ment. It will be increa 


н 1 L ERLOCKING CHANNEL FLOOR 
ingly in demand as anything The Belmont Iron Works, of 22d Street and Wash- 


that will help make a sale is always wanted. ington Avenue, Philadelphia, issues a fully illustrated 
KITGHEN DEBUT and tabled brochure on the Belmont Rolled Struc- 

The Philadelphia Gas Works Co. is sponsoring a tural Steel Interlocking Channel Floor. This floor 
new kitchen planning service in co-operation with is described as an assembly of rolled structural steel 
manufacturers of various materials and equipment channels or other shapes, placed alternately flanges 
for kitchen use. It announces in connection with up and flanges down, with the flanges interlocking 
this service, the opening of the Kitchen Planning And securely arc-welded. Specifications and load 


tables make a v 


Headquarters on the second floor of the Architects complete catalogue of informa- 


Building, 17th and Samson Streets, Philadelphia. рал ` іа the p thing for highwa $ ү railroad 
Four complete kitchens are on display, all unusual ridge decks as well as modern building floors. 
and varying in size, style, color, and price. Inter- ALUNDUM AGGREGATE 


ested visitors are welcome. A. L A. file No. 3-d-5 is a folder of data and speci- 


VENTILATORS AND SMOKE GOWLS fications on Alundum Aggregate issued by the 
A folder from the United States Ventilator and Norton Company, of Worcester, Mass. , Besides 

Power Corporation, of Boston, Mas: › 184 Summer characteristics and fields of usefulness, specifications 

Street, describes the uses of “S” Rotor Ventilators i” detail are included for monolithic terrazzo, pre- 

for all ventilation purposes and "S" Rotor Smoke (st terrazzo, and precast tile. 

Cowls. They emphasize the manufacture in America BRUNSWICK AGENTS 

of American materials and their slogan is “Always The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co., manufac- 


Working." A test comparison chart is included. turers of bar fixtures and equipment, announces the 
CORRECT LIGHTING appointment of the following distributors for your 

The Edwin F. Guth Co., of St. Louis, empha- SOR KEMERGGs: R. Minen. Jr., 221 North La Salle 
sizes in a descriptive leaflet the need of correct light- Mh ЧЧ, IIl; к orth Lumber Company , 
ing to make vision fast and accurate. It recommends A E xU 1С Kei HABS S Se Sich 16, Com- 
engineering eye-ease into your lighting. Guth Super- Dar: Wi BASE Depot Street, fShoxvile, Tenn.; 
Illuminators are scientifically constructed as well as — L^ C- Wiswell Company, 822 South Michigan Ave- 
ornamental, to give low-cost, shadowless light. "Their [n bi pa id pereo and Hoffman, Okia- 
engineering department cheerfully co-operates with ee "Gil s kotba ‚ansıng Company, Van 
you in the planning of efficient lighting. 342-350 Gibson Street, Scranton, Pa.; John Van 


Benschoten, Inc., 14-24 Catherine Street, Pough- 
' ELEVATORS keepsie, N. Y.; The Post and Lester Company, 89 
red by Harold C. Hichock, of the Broadway, Providence, R. 1.; The Tri State Elec- 
ion of the Westinghouse Elevator tric Company, 407 East 8th Street, Sioux Falls, 


WORLD'S FASTE 
A release prep 
Engineering Divis 


Co., gives data on the Rockefeller Center passenger 5. D.; The Albany Garage, Inc., 28 Howard Street, 
elevators which substantiates their claim to being Albany, N. Y.; Ben E. Keith Co., Fort Worth, 
the fastest passenger elevators in the world. With Tex.; Automobile Sales Company, Inc., 259 Monroe 
24 of the 75 Westinghouse elevators in the main Avenue, Memphis, Tenn.; Rackliffe Brothers Gös; 
building operating at 1200 feet per minute they are Inc., Park and Bigelow Streets, New Britain, Conn.; 
said to be probably the safest as well. The speed Loubat Glassware and Cork Co., 10 Bienville Street, 
of travel, simple operation, and devices for safety New Orleans, La. 


make this article interesting reference reading. 
“ROSS” DECALORATOR 


SEAL-ECTED GLASS 
All glass made by the Gleason-Tiebout Glass Com- 


А.1. A. file No. 32-C-31 from the American pany now bears an identifying seal which readily 
Blower Corporation, of Detroit, Mich., deals with protects you against imitations or products of lesser 
the value of the “Ross” Decalorator for air condi- quality. 
tioning and process work in industries requiring (Continued on page 12) 


10 


NOVEMBER, 1933 


x The Author: 


x The Book: 


X Price, $2.75 


ARCHITECTURE 


COLOUR 


A MANUAL OF ITS THEORY AND PRACTICE 


By H. Barrett. Carpenter 


Since this book was first published — this being the third edition, 
revised and enlarged, with additional plates — its author has been 
acclaimed a master and leader of the vitally important study of 
colour. What he modestly termed "suggestions" have been tried 
out and proven with triumphant success in workshop, studio, and 
school. 


The late Mr. H. Barrett Carpenter's manual has long been con- 
sidered a standard text-book, and its utility to artists and students 
has been widely recognized over a period of nearly twenty years. 
In this new edition the book has been thoroughly revised and con- 
siderably extended. The old plates have been remade to a more 
exact standard, and new ones have been included which present 
for the first time a wide range of applied color examples in varied 
manifestations of decorative art. Useful, explanatory, and analvt- 
ical notes relate these to the main arguments of the author. 


Practical Engraving and Etching 
By E. G. Lutz 


x The Author: 


X The Book: 


X Price, $2. 


His books on practical phases of drawing, art, lettering, landscape 
painting, and almost a dozen art subjects are among the most pop- 
ular of their kind. He is a born teacher through the printed word. 


In this new volume of his well-known “Practical Series," Mr. 
Lutz gives complete instruction in the art of making linoleum 
blocks, wood engravings, woodcuts made on the plank, and ex- 
plains etching and aquatint processes. It is a book especially de- 
signed for the student and the amateur, although the experienced 
craftsman will find its pages of inte 
single one of these difficult proce: 


t and value. There is not a 
s that Mr. Lutz doesn't re- 
duce to its very simplest terms in his text and through his amaz- 
ingly clear illustrations. For the beginner it will be of great value, 


as Mr. Lutz shows how engraving and etching outfits may be con- 
structed and assembled without great cost and in ordinary sur- 
roundings. 


CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, New York 


ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTURAL BOOKS 


ARCHITECTURE NovEMBER, 1933 


BRONZE ORNAMENTATION 

"Those of you who are not already on the mailing 
list for the regular bulletin of the Copper and Brass 
Research Association should by all means send your 
name in now and not miss any further i They 
are worth while. This month’s issue contains inter- 
esting material on the bronze spandrels used in the 
new $7 o Bronx County Court House, data 
on application of copper in the new $4,000,000 
Christian Science Publishing Building, in Boston, and 
data on America’s first copper house. Send in your 
name to the Association at 25 Broadw ay, New York. 


STEAM BOILER PROTECTION 

Recognizing the hazards of low-water conditions 
in steam-fired boilers and the necessity of safeguards 
against their being fired dry, the Minneapolis- 
Honeywell Regulator Co., of Minneapolis, Minn., 
has developed a new bellows-sealed packless con- 
struction low-water cutoff, duplex switch, and water 
feeder. These automatic controls give the required 
safeguards against low-water conditions of automat- 
ically fired boilers and at a cost within the reach of 
| present-day pocketbooks. The low-water cutoff and 
duplex switch are now available for any pressure or 
vacuum up to twenty-five pounds. 


Reproduction of a XIIIth Century Panel executed by 


Louis C.Ciffany Studios 


Stained Glass Windows 
Mosaics, Indoor Memorials 
Church Decorations 


Monuments, Mausoleums 
46 West Twenty: Third Street, Pew Vork City 


“OUR NEW HOME IS FIREPROOF” 

The quotation is from Mrs. Leo Weeks, of Des 
Moines, lowa, who takes you on a hospitable tour of 
inspection of her modern home in the pages of an 
attractive booklet published by the Portland Ce- 
| ment Association, 33 West Grand Avenue, Chicago. 
| The $20,000 home of Mr. and Mrs. Weeks was de- 

stroyed by fire and this new home “designed for 
NEL —— | living,” listed in the $5000-$7000 class, was designed 
by architect Amos B. Emery, of Des Moines. It is 
built with fireproof walls and floors. Write for copy 
of this attractive booklet and see why Mrs. Weeks 
considers this the most livable home they have ever 
owned. 


GAS-ELECTRIC SETS 

Copies of C. 1959-a entitled '' Gas-Electric Sets for 
Every Application," published by the Westinghouse 
Electric Mfg. Co., are now available. This publica- 
tion is a revised twelve-page circular describing and 
illustrating the features of these sets ranging in size 
from 800 watts to 100 kv-a, and are applicable wher- 
ever auxiliary or standby power is needed. They are 
especially designed for hotels, theatres, schools, 
radio stations, and airports. 


No. 2631 
S:mi-Recess 


With Glass 
Filler 


EMERSON MOTOR 

The Emerson Electric Manufacturing Co., of 2018 
Washington Avenue, St. Louis, announces its new 
capacitor start, induction-run Emerson motor, 
available in 4, 4, 1, 1, 4 H.P. sizes with resilient or 
rigid base mountings. It is said to be a major im- 
provement for refrigerator service and wherever high 
starting torque and quietness are needed. 


e This modern and sanitary Halsey Taylor fix- 
ture is but one of many new designs that have 
met with the favor of architects and building 
owners everywhere. Receptor located above rim 
to meet all American Public Health Association 
regulations. And of course, distinctive and prac- 
tical automatic stream control and two-stream 
projector. Design, economy, sanitation! 


THE HALSEY W. TAYLOR CO. • WARREN, OHIO 


HA 
au 


STAINLESS CLAD STEEL 

The Ingersoll Steel & Disc C . of 310 South 
Michigan Avenue, Chicago, division of the Borg- 
Warner Corp., has just issued literature illustrating 
many applications of Ingoclad nless clad steel. 
The folder deals with the application of Ingoclad in 
almost every phase of the metal working and process 
industries where the corrosion resistance and sani- 
tation of stainless steel are desired, combined with 
low cost of the fabricated product. 


NOVEMBER, 1933 


METAL WALL TRIM 

Wooster Products Co., Inc., of Wooster, Ohio, re- 
leases news of a metal wall trim which is especially 
adaptable to the mounting of Bakelite Laminated 
wall board material. The trim is available in highly 
polished and satin effects as well as in standard col- 
ors. Its installation is said to be achieved in three 
easy operations. 


SOUND-PROOF DOOR 

Irving Hamlin, patentee and manufacturer of the 
Evanston Sound-Proof Door, has issued a new file 
containing details of improvements on the door. 
Details of construction, tests, cross-sectional views, 
and other important data are included. Copies may 
be secured from Mr. Hamlin direct at 1500 Lincoln 
Street, Evanston, Ill., or on request through this 
bureau. 


ELECTRIC WATER HEATER 

Westinghouse electric water heaters, designed in 
types and sizes to meet every central station load 
condition and great variety of applications of the 
consumer, are very adequately described and illus- 
trated in latest Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co.'s 
catalogue No. 282-A. Cross-cut drawings are shown 
for the various models as well as specification direc- 
tions. The stressed features are too numerous to 
mention here, but the thirty of them are worth talk- 
ing about. The catalogue is of convenient file and 
reference size. Copies available from the Westing- 
house Technical Press at East Pittsburgh, Pa., or on 
request through this bureau. 


PERSONNEL ANNOUNCEME 

Warren Webster & Co., Camden, N. J., announces 
the appointment of Mr. L. A. Bernert as manager of 
their Birmingham, Ala., office with quarters in the 
Watts Building. 


WHAT HEATER COSTS? 

A bulletin of list prices covering Convectofin 
Built-In Heaters has just been published by the 
Commodore Heaters Corp. 11 West 42d Street, 
New York City. Complete price information is 
furnished, together with drawings of seven typical 
installation types so that any one can readily deter- 
mine in advance what heater costs will be for any 
type and any size. General terms and conditions 
and complete tables of effective heating capacities 
are also included in the bulletin. 


MULTI-V-TYPE AIR FILTERING 

The Staynew Filter Corporation, of Rochester, 
N. Y., has just published a folder descriptive of its 
newly patented air filter. The separate formation 
of V's result in a filtering surface of twenty-seven 
times the face area. The units (while in place) can 
be easily cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. You will 
be interested. 


RUBEROID 

Announcement has been received from the 
Ruberoid Co., of New York, of their acquisition of 
Newmarble and Newtile, products formerly manu- 
factured by Asbestos, Ltd. Newmarble is an as- 
bestos panel simulating marble, and Newtile is as- 
bestos tiling in sheet form. An important factor 
concerning these products is that both color and 
design are an actual and integral part of the sheet 


itself. They will be henceforth marketed under the 
trade names of Ru-Ber-Oid Newmarble and Ru- 
Ber-Oid Newtile. 


ARCHITECTURE I 


m 


E ишы ye 


PECORA 


MORTAR 
STAINS 


nehmen nay dt 


For this Kansas City residence, Hy-tex Old English and Mosaic 
Brown Oxford mixed bricks were supplied by Hydraulic Brick Co., 
St. Louis, Mo. Pecora Mortar Stains can be used advantageously 
with this or any other style of brick. 


Where Color is Needed 


OR the exterior of residences, for fireplaces, for porch 
enclosures, for lobbies—in fact, wherever masonry 
is laid up with mortar—the appearance can be great- 
ly improved by the use of Pecora Mortar Stains. 


It costs very little to include these dependable mortar stains 
in your brickwork specifications, and the opportunity for 
colorful contrasts, well selected blending of tones, is almost 
unlimited. 

There are 12 standard Pecora colors to choose from, colors 
that are rich, uniform and fadeproof. Supplied in paste form 
ready to be mixed with either lime or cement mortar. Pecora 
Mortar Stains do not cause or increase efflorescence. 


For further details see Sweet’s Catalog or write direct to us. 


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d? 


Pecora Paint Company 
Fourth and Glenwood Avenue 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

Established 1862 by Smith Bowen 
ALSO MAKERS OF PECORA CALKING COMPOUND 
2 - — = MESC) 


14 


ADVERTISERS INDEX 


WHAT TO SPECIFY WHERE TO BUY 
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN OBTAINING THE CATALOGUES OF ANY OF THE ADVERTISERS 
IN THIS ISSUE DF ARCHITECTURE (AS LISTED RELOW HITFCTURE'S SERVICE 
BUREAU SEND THEM TO YOU. ANY ADDITIONAL DATA CONCERNING THE INDUSTRY 
THAT THE READERS OF ARCHITECTURE REQUIRE WILL GLADLY RE COMPILED FOR THEM 
BY OUR SERVICE HUREA 
PAG. 
American Telephone & Telegraph Company 9 
Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, The 2d Cover 
Byers Company, A. M. ....... "ro d 6 
Clarks ING l) seen uem i IUe 15 
Cutler Mail Chute Companv ............. 14 
Faber Pencil Company, Eberhard $ 
Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company .............. 5 
Otis Elevator Company 16 
Pecora Paint Company e TF 6 ae 13 


Scovill Manufacturing Companv 3d Cover 


Seribner's Sons, Charles Il-15 


Swartwout Companv, The 16 


Tavlor Company, Halsey W. .. 12 
Tiffany Studios, Louis C. + 12 
Truscon Steel Company .. РРР 16 
Virginia Craftsmen, Inc. 
Wallace & Tiernan Company 4th Cover 
Westinghouse Electric Elevator Company : 1 


Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company ... Ў 


REFER TO PAGE 10 FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS OF 


ATIONS OF 


THE 
MANUFACTURERS 


MOST UP-TO-DATE 


PUBLIC 


ARCHITECT 


RE NOVEMBER, 1933 


MODERNIZE wit « 
CUTLER MAIL CHUTE 


U.S. MAIL 


Expected as a matter 
of course in the mod- 


| | ern office building ог 


apartment. 


It guarantees to the ten- 
ant up-to-date service 
and saves the owner 
its cost in reduced 
elevator operation. 


Full information, details, specifications 
and estimates on request. 


CUTLER MAIL CHUTE CO. 


General Offices and Factorv 


ROCHESTER, N.V. 


STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, Мг 
REQUIRI BY THE 


AGEMENT, ET 
ACT OF CONGRESS OF MARCH 3, 1933. 


Oi ARCHITECTURE, published monthly at New York, N. Y., 
| State of NEW YORK, County of NEW YORK. 
| Before me, aNOTARY PUBLIC in and for the State and county aforesaid, per- 
| sonally appeared CARROLL B. MERRITT, who, having been duly worn 
according to law, deposes and says that he is the HUS 5 MANAGER of 
| ARCHIT JRE, and that the following is, to the be his knowledge and 
| belief, a true statement of the ownership, management, etc., of the aforesaid 
| publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of 
March 3, 1033, embodied in section 537, Postal Laws and Regulations, to wit: 
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, 
and business manager are 
PUBLISHER Charles 
Epiroa: H y H. 


for October 1, 1933. 


Scribner's Sons . 597 
aylor 597 


Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. 
Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. 


MANAGIN: ITOR: N 
Business MANAGER: Carroll B. Merritt 


That the owners are 


one 
397 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y 
(If owned by a corporation, its name and 
must be stated and immediately thereunder the names and addr 
stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of stock. 
| If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners 
must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other unincorporated concern, 
its name and address, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) 
Charles ribner's Sons 507 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. 
Charles Scribner 597 Fifth Ave., New York, N, Y. 
| E. T. S. Lord 7 507 Fifth Ave., New York, №. Y 
That the known idholders, mortgagees, and other security holders 

owning or holding 1 per m or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or 

other securities are: N 

4. That the two paragi roni next above givinz the names of the owne 
stockholders and security holders, ií any, contain not only the list of stockhold 

and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but a 

cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the 
company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or 
corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given; also that the po gend 
paragraphs contain statements enbracing affiant’s full knowledge and belief as 

1o the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security hold- 

ers who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock 

and securities in a acity other th that of a bon le owner; and this affiant 

has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation l 

st direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than 
ated by him. 


CARROLL B. MERRITT, Business Manazer 
cribed before me this 27th day of September, 19. 
Josern H. Pott, 
Notary Public, Nassau County 
Certificate filed in New York County 
Clerk's No. 114, Register's No 
Commission expires M: rch 30, 1934. 


бз 


| Sal 


NOVEMBER, 1933 ARCHITECTURE 15 


For Dependable Mass Transportation. . 


SHONNARD 
MOTOR STAIRWAYS 


Passengers do not step DOWN to board, or step This is an exclusive patented feature of these stair- 
UP or SIDEWISE, to leave the Shonnard Motor ways. lt makes them easy to use and reduces 
Stairway. Steps arrive FLUSH with landings to delay at the terminals — more passengers are served 
take on or discharge passengers exactly at floor level. per unit of time or space. 


MANUFACTURED BY 


PETER CLARK, INC. 


540 West 30th Street 
NEW YORK, N. Y. 
Established 1905 


Three Practical Books 
By 
DeWitt C. Pond 


Concrete Construction for Architects 
Fully illustrated with drawings of 
special engineering features. Au- 
thoritative and up-to-date. $4.00 


N m G A D 
An Architectes Simple Engineering Dearborn, Michigan 
Problems A substantial part of the furniture for this now famous 
A book for ready reference, which Inn was supplied by The Virginia Craftsmen 
/ ; 
readily solves theevery-da y problems OLR thorough knowledge of the requirements of restoration work 
L J $ 2 ec ы and special projects of all kinds, and our exceptional facilities for 
that confront the architect, drafts- executing such work, are fre d to architects and decorators 
man and student. 23 figures. $1 50 Among recent projects in which Virginia Craftsmen participated are 
d ku TAP ROOM, HOTEL LEXINGTON, N. Y. € J 


А А MORRIS PLAN BANK—RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 
Drafting-Room Mathematics Й | YALE UNIVERSITY ROOMING PLAN 
The difficult daily problems of the BALTIMORE COUNTRY CLUB—BALTIMORE, MD 


drafting-room simply and clearly 

explained for the draftsman and | 

architect. 46 figures. $2.50 | TM ric cl INC. 
UTISONDUIE VILE 

IRGINIA 


CRAFTSMEN Е ý 
REPRODUCTIONS New York 


May we send you our literature ? 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS Craft House 


59 East «2nd St. 
597 Fifth Avenue, at 48th St. New York Harrisonburg, Va. 


SRCETIECTURE NOVEMBER, 1933 


BON 


MARCHÉ 
STEEL-BILT 
STORE 


N mm Steel я 
Building 
Developments 


with Brilliant 
Glass and Porcelain 


Woodworth & Loree, Architects 
Ann Arbor, Mich. 


Sidewalls 
AUTO These Buildings provide colorful and compelling attraction together 
SERVITORIUM with every modern, efficient merchandising feature. A striking display of 


brilliant porcelain and glass sidewalls combines with steel frames, doors 
and windows, steeldeck roofs and insulated partitions to make permanent, 
firesafe and individualized buildings in a wide variety of types, sizes and 
combinations. Write for suggestions, estimates and full details. 


TRUSCON STEEL COMPANY, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO 


Sales and Engineering Offices in Principal Cities 


SUPER 
SERVICE STATION 


SWARTWOUT VENTILATORS 


everv 
ARE WIDELV KNOWN— step from 
Thev have been used on all classes of 
building for over thirtv vears. Thev manufacture 
render positive ventilation. Thev give 
continuous, trouble-free service. They to 
move more air per minute per dollar Ž 
than any other ventilator. For typical maintenance 


installation views and general specifi- 
cations send for a copv of 


“The Gospel of Fresh Air 


ROTARV 


SWARTWOUT „BALL VENTILATORS 


EARING 


LEVATOR 


| E 
| COMPANY 


339 orrices THROUGH OUT THE WORLD ы 
x 


'The Swartwout Company 


18527 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, O.